Ageing With Intellectual Disabilities and Complex Age-Related Conditions in Ireland: In Search of a Model of Care

Abstract

Improvements in health care and supports for people with intellectual disabilities have resulted in greater longevity, with more people living into older age. This is a positive development, but it has seen the occurrence of age-related issues that were theretofore quite rare in this population. It has become clear that some of these issues present a level of complexity, requiring a coordinated, timely, and individualized response. That response has been challenging for intellectual disability services in Ireland, where there has been no clear model of care for older people with intellectual disabilities with complex age-related health needs. The authors, having undertaken a review of the literature to identify extant models and finding none, seek in this paper to bring together key concepts and aspects to propose a model of care to support older people with intellectual disabilities as their needs become more complex.