The self-care and functional skills of older Australians with an intellectual disability

Abstract

This paper reports the level of self-care and functional skills of people with an intellectual disability in Australia who are 55 years of age and older. Data were collected via interviews from two cohorts: one included 446 members of the target group in Queensland and Western Australia and the second included 110 people who were drawn at random from a national register of older people with an intellectual disability according to state populations. The results of the survey indicate that the majority of older people are autonomous in the basic functional skills such as eating, toileting and grooming but few have competence in reading or writing or are capable of handling money, operating a bank account, using laundry or cooking equipment or shopping independently. The results are discussed in relation to the training of people with an intellectual disability who are presently in mid-adulthood.