World Health Organization Standards (Matthew Janicki, Ph.D)

Objective

Develop international standards for aging adults with I/DD that can be incorporated in the American health care system.

Target Audience

Workers in health services and health policy research.

Progress to Date

The RRTCADD participated in an international roundtable on healthy aging of people with intellectual disabilities held in Geneva, Switzerland on April 20-23, 1999. In 1999, the RRTC was instrumental in securing a R-13 conference support grant from the National Institute on Aging to support an international consensus meeting in Geneva, Switzerland at the headquarters of the WHO. This meeting produced several reports on health and aging and ID were distributed worldwide in both print and on the WHO's website. These documents are stimuli for the development of health services standards/practice guidelines for older adults with I/DD in the U.S. The RRTCADD is working with the American Association on Mental Retardation, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Medical Association to develop the standards, have then adopted by a variety organizations, have them placed into practice, and ensure their broadest impact.

The reports were reproduced in the Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities in 2001 under similar titles. [The reports also lead to the development of three text books published by Blackwell Publishing, one on women's health, one on physical health, and one on mental health.]. The focus of the health initiative was to first secure international agreement on the manner of promoting longevity and healthy aging among people with I/DD. Thus, having gained the support and endorsement of the WHO, the RRTC proceeded to work toward developing interest in healthy aging within the U.S. To this end, a significant symposium was held in November 2001 in Chicago at the of the annual meeting of the Gerontological Society of America. The report form this meeting is posted on the RRTCADD's website. The RRTCADD used this meeting as a springboard to plan and develop a national scientific meeting on health, aging and ID to be held this December in Tampa, Florida in conjunction with the University of Rochester and the University of South Florida. The intent is to build off of the work of the WHO and the recent Surgeon General's report on health disparities and ID and help set an agenda for deliberations in public on health resources and planning and a set of investigations on health status and health services availability over the next 5-10 years.

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