The Importance of Accessible Information in Promoting the Inclusion of People with an Intellectual Disability

Melody M. Terras, Dominic Jarrett and Sharon A. McGregor
Additional contact information
Melody M. Terras: School of Education and Social Sciences, University of the West of Scotland, Paisley PA1 2BE, UK
Dominic Jarrett: North Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership, Irvine KA12 8EE, UK
Sharon A. McGregor: Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G4 0LG, UK

Disabilities, 2021, vol. 1, issue 3, 1-19

Abstract: People with an intellectual disability experience high levels of social exclusion and a range of health inequalities. Increased inclusion and participation in healthcare decision making have been identified as key to promoting inclusion in health and social care. However, achieving these objectives requires increased recognition of the communication and health literacy needs of individuals with an intellectual disability and consideration of the appropriateness of the information currently provided. In this article, we report the results of a pre-COVID-19 qualitative study exploring the provision and use of accessible information to support the healthcare inclusion of individuals with an intellectual disability. A total of 35 clinicians participated in focus group discussions, and 10 people with intellectual disabilities and 10 carers were interviewed regarding their experiences of using accessible health-related information. Qualitative data analysis using a framework approach highlighted the crucial role of communication partners when using accessible information, deficits in current National Health Service (NHS: UK’s publicly funded health care system) information provision in the UK, and possible broader relevance of accessible resources. The implications of these findings for the provision of accessible information in a post-COVID-19 environment are explored, and recommendations are made for the increased integration and theory-driven research to inform the provision, content, and use of health-related information, especially the provision of online information, in the future.

Keywords: intellectual disabilities; person-centred; accessible information; inclusion; easy read; comprehension; psychology; cognitive load (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2673-7272/1/3/11/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2673-7272/1/3/11/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jdisab:v:1:y:2021:i:3:p:11-150:d:584368

Access Statistics for this article

Disabilities is currently edited by Ms. Cici Zhou

More articles in Disabilities from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().