Healthy Lifestyles and Primary Healthcare

Good health is important to everyone. Optimal health is central to being able to enjoy the best possible quality of life. No one can fully engage with, participate in, and contribute to their communities while in discomfort, pain, or distress in physical, oral, or mental health. For people with intellectual disabilities, however, sub-optimal health frequently occurs because of a combination of factors relating to their specific disabilities and external factors, such as where they live, who supports them, and challenges faced in accessing health systems.

This chapter provides an overview of the implications of poor health and why poor health is often experienced by people with intellectual disabilities. It then focuses on the role of disability support services and individual support staff in contributing to their optimal health through the support provided to individuals and in interactions with health systems. In this chapter, health is discussed in terms of physical, oral, and mental health because of the strong connections between them.