Health and Community Service Access: Differences and Similarities for Older People With and Without Lifelong Intellectual Disability

Introduction: Few studies comparatively examine experiences of the mainstream ageing population and people ageing with intellectual disability, and particularly with respect to access to health and community services. This paper reports on the findings of a large-scale Australian study with older people with and without lifelong intellectual disability residing in rural and metropolitan areas.
Methods: Semi-structured interviews were undertaken across New South Wales and Queensland, and included participants from small rural towns through to metropolitan areas. Adults interviewed included those living in their longstanding community home as well as individuals who had over the past few years moved into residential aged care facilities.
Results: Participants with and without intellectual disability reported difficulty in consistently accessing both mainstream and specialist health and community services. Analyses indicated that the greater geographic distance from metropolitan areas had an increasingly greater impact on individuals' capacity to access services than the presence of lifelong disability. While inner-city individuals without intellectual disability reported best access to services, differences in access between individuals either ageing with or without intellectual disability reduced as distance from the capital city increased.
Implications: Specific barriers to service access are related to geography and disability, with most significant limitations related to living in isolated areas. Attention from health and community service providers is required to address this inequality in service availability.