A settings and systems approach to promoting the health and wellbeing of people with an intellectual disability
Research shows that people with an intellectual disability have higher rates of certain preventable health conditions like diabetes and obesity, and a higher rate of avoidable mortality. At the same time, they have lower levels of physical activity and poorer nutrition.
Despite these increased health needs, there has been relatively little health promotion research and evaluation with this group. It’s largely a neglected area .
We know that programs like lifestyle campaigns, designed for the general population, rarely reach people with an intellectual disability and there have been very few campaigns specifically designed with this population in mind.
As well, most of the interventions that have been delivered are programmatic and individual in focus, lacking a broader ecological and settings focus, making them very difficult to scale.
For people with intellectual disability, an inclusive workplace settings-based approach presents a new area to investigate, in an effort to improve health and wellbeing outcomes for this vulnerable group.
This research delves into the existing evidence on health promotion interventions for people with intellectual disability, and current gaps in approaches, to provide direction for future research on this topic. It explores:
- Physical activity and nutrition interventions for people with an intellectual disability
- Best practice approaches to settings-based health promotion
- Effective strategies for workplaces as a specific health promotion setting
- Evidence-based approaches to improving wellbeing for employees with an intellectual disability
- Recommendations for a systems approach that integrates approaches across multiple settings to better promote the health of this population cohort
Workplace settings-based approaches to health promotion: a way forward?
While there are several research gaps that currently exist when it comes to settings-based approaches for people with intellectual disability, many people with an intellectual disability are employed in various types of workplaces, which are an important health promotion setting.
Research shows that workplaces allow for health promotion messages to be efficiently and effectively communicated at a minimal cost, and employment forms an important role in the lives of people with disability.
Looking at emerging evidence on the characteristics of job satisfaction for people with an intellectual disability, systems concepts start to emerge.
These reveal some aspects that could be important considerations in workplace settings-based health promotion for this group. They are:
- Supervisor and co-worker support for a sense of connection and wellbeing in the workplace
- Taking an empowerment and partnership approach between managers and employees
- Building a culture of continuous improvement with respect to evaluation
- The need to tailor intervention strategies to the unique employee and business context of the organisation
“Currently there is no evidence, as far as we are aware, that has attempted to improve nutrition and physical activity within the workplace for people with an intellectual disability, despite this being an area of high need.”
