Geriatrician Training in the Care of Elders With Intellectual and Other Developmental Disabilities

Abstract

Adults with intellectual and other developmental disabilities (IDD) are now living to late life. Whether geriatricians are being trained to provide care for this clinically complex subpopulation of elders has not been examined. Two thirds of all geriatric fellowship directors in the United States responded to a Web-based survey of curriculum and training in this area. Forty-four percent rated training in this area as “important” or “very important,” but only 26% of directors rated their graduates as moderately or highly competent in caring for elders with IDD. We report our survey findings and implications for future curricular development.

KEYWORDS:

• elderly
• intellectual disabilities
• developmental disabilities
• geriatrics

This study was supported by a National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute grant (R25T CA 111898) and a Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, Bureau of Health Professionals grant (D22HP00414A0). The authors gratefully acknowledge Wayne Barry, BA, information technology consultant for the project. Olga De LaCalle, MD, assisted in the survey design; she was a fellow in geriatric medicine at MetroHealth Medical Center at that time. We also thank Sarah Schramm, MA, for her assistance in the preparation and submission of this manuscript. We appreciate the editorial suggestions of Garey Noritz, MD, MetroHealth Medical Center.