Stay Well and Healthy! Pilot Study Findings from an Inhome Preventive Healthcare Programme for Persons Ageing with Intellectual and/or Developmental Disabilities

Background While disparities in the health status for persons ageing with intellectual and developmental disabilities have been well documented, interventions that address individual risks in physical, emotional, social and environmental health among this population are lacking. This pilot study evaluated the feasibility of two inhome interventions designed to reduce health risks and improve health outcomes among persons ageing with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Method Interventions and assessment tools were developed. Adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, aged 32 and over (n = 201) living in non‐institutional settings were recruited and assigned to either an advance practice nurse (APN) intervention of inhome multidimensional assessment, targeted recommendations and follow‐up visits (n = 101) or an inhome health risk appraisal (HRA) with printed feedback only (n = 100). Results The development and pilot testing of the interventions, assessment tools and methods demonstrated feasibility in the population from mild to moderate intellectual and developmental disabilities. In addition, high levels of health risks were identified (mean = 5.0; range 0–16) in the sample suggesting the need for effective interventions. Both pilot groups showed significant reduction in health risks between baseline and follow‐up. Further rigorous randomized field trials are required to test the effectiveness of each intervention. Conclusions Community‐based preventive interventions are feasible for randomized trials in this population.