People with intellectual disabilities’ experiences of primary care health checks, screenings and GP consultations: a systematic review and meta-ethnography

Abstract

Primary care health checks, screenings and GP consultations are often the gateway for people with intellectual disabilities to access their physical and mental healthcare. For a population who experience greater levels of health difficulties alongside significant health inequality, improving care quality and access is of major importance. This meta-ethnographic, qualitative review aims to explore people with intellectual disabilities experiences of health checks, screenings and GP visits, while assessing the quality of the current literature and synthesising findings to consider clinical and research recommendations based on third order constructs. A systematic search identified 20 studies that met inclusion criteria. Quality assessment of each paper was conducted. Meta-ethnography methods were used to analyse and synthesis findings. One overarching concept was identified: Include Me, along with seven core concepts; Empowerment and Disempowerment, Communication and Interpersonal Factors, Access and Adaptations and Biased Narratives and Shifting Perspectives. Implications for practice and future direction are discussed.

Keywords:

• intellectual disabilities
• primary health care
• annual health checks
• health screening
• experiences

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the participants who took part in the original papers used in this systematic review.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 For the purpose of this paper the term ‘intellectual disability’ is used as this term is currently internationally recognised. Some papers included in the review may use other terminology such as ‘learning disability’.

2 The term ‘learning disability’ is used as this term was chosen by the co-researcher who has lived experience of a learning disability who supported the development of the easy read summary.