Healthcare in intellectual disabilities: Europe outside the UK

Since the 1990s, many publications have provided a description of the status of care for persons with intellectual disability in Europe. This set of documents constitutes a unique case of international description and follow-up of care systems for intellectual disabilities in a single world region. The main information sources on care systems for persons with intellectual disability in Europe are presented with a special focus on projects funded by the European Commission during the past 15 years, which incorporate information on care systems (MEROPE, IDRESNET, POMONA, DECLOC). Following this knowledge base, a set of priorities has been identified as regards to training, care planning and provision, assessment and monitoring, empowerment and other related issues. These European projects highlight the fact that inequalities in the care of persons with intellectual disability persist to date, although these differences are decreasing particularly in Western Europe, and care reforms are also in progress in those Eastern European countries which have joined the European Union. The inequalities regarding people with intellectual disabilities exceed the differences found in other health sectors, such as adult mental health care, and therefore healthcare for people with intellectual disabilities should be placed as a main priority focus within equity of care strategies in Europe.