OVERVIEW

Medical Care of Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities is organized by Massachusetts Medical Society (MMS) and will be held from Apr 06, 2018 - Apr 06, 2021. This CME Conference has been approved for a maximum of 1.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits.

Course Description:
The prevalence of Intellectual Disability/Developmental Disability (ID/DD) comprises about 1% of the population. Persons with ID/DD often have undiagnosed or poorly treated medical disorders; have the shorter life expectancy and depending on the underlying causation of their disability, are at risk for developing certain disorders.

Screening of athletes participating in Special Olympics has documented "widespread health problems" and lack of training of health professionals to provide care to this population. An overwhelming majority of persons with ID/DD live in the community and are expected to receive primary medical care at community-based facilities. However, their access to care has been a problem, especially for adults, less so for children, since most pediatricians receive at least some training in ID/DD and many are trained in Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics. These disparities in health and access to health care were identified in the Surgeon General Report of 2002, which also described existing creative programs aiming to eliminate these gaps in care. None of these programs were in Massachusetts with the exception of Tufts Dental Facilities for people with ID/DD.

This access problem to health care is not limited to the United States. Studies list the following factors underlying this health disparity: poor communication between the health care providers and patients (who often have deficient language skills); lack of training of health professionals; "diagnostic overshadowing," which is the tendency to assume that the patient's complaints are due to the intellectual disability; not obtaining detailed past history (due to poor communication and lack of sufficient time). Negative attitudes to patients with ID are also a problem and physicians tend to see them as difficult to care for. Most, if not all, primary care physicians have the medical knowledge and competence needed to provide medical care to persons with ID/DD. However, additional training and practice modification are needed to achieve among others, the following:
• To increase knowledge of associated syndromes /disorders
• To increase collaboration with other health-related professionals who provide services to this population of patients within the same community

Course Objectives:
• Make reasonable office and staff accommodations in ascertaining sensitivity to procedures.
• Document a comprehensive health history, preferably in advance, and utilizing multiple informants if possible.
• Develop skills of developmentally appropriate and respectful communication with the patient (rather than with the caregivers only).
• Define relevant legalities such as guardianship and its limitations concerning medical care; end-of-life decisions, major procedures, abortion, sterilization, etc.
• Recognize medical co-morbidities common in certain ID/DD associated syndromes.

Additional details will be posted as soon as they are available.