Unmet Healthcare and Social Services Needs of Older Canadian Adults With Developmental Disabilities

Abstract

AbstractThe authors sought to create a demographic, socioeconomic, and health‐related profile of older (40+) Canadian adults with developmental disabilities (DD) residing in their communities, and to enhance current knowledge of their unmet health and social support services needs. They provide a secondary analysis of cross‐sectional data from the 2001 and 2006 Participation and Activity Limitation Surveys (PALS). The study population comprised PALS respondents who: (a) were at least 40 years of age at the time of the survey and (b) were reported having a DD. Weighted data were used to describe and compare the profiles of the study population and the comparison group (PALS respondents age 40+ with other types of disability), and to estimate the prevalence of reported unmet healthcare and social support services needs. Logistic regression analyses determined the extent to which these needs affected the target population's overall health status. The data revealed that an estimated 136,570 Canadians age 15+ reported having a DD in 2006. Of these, 66,560 (48.7%) were at least 40 years of age. An estimated 47.7% of this population rated their overall health status as either fair or poor. The prevalence of reported unmet healthcare and social services needs decreased between 2001 and 2006 for both study groups, but it was still much higher for older individuals with DD than for the comparison group in 2001 and 2006. Controlling for the effects of all the other factors, the authors found that reported unmet needs did not significantly affect respondents' overall health status. The authors concluded that compared to Canadians with other types of disability, those with DD were more likely to report unmet healthcare and social support services needs. Further research is needed to explore policies and programs which support the healthy and active aging of this population.