Barriers to the Access and use of Health Information by Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disability IDD: A Review of the Literature

Individuals with intellectual and developmental disability remain among the most vulnerable members of society and frequently face numerous barriers to healthcare services. The purpose of this paper is to review the literature exploring health information access and use for those with intellectual and developmental disability (IDD), identifying barriers they face when using systems. A literature search was conducted to identify studies presenting experiences of individuals with IDD when accessing health information. We identified 28 studies which were published between January 2005 and October 2017. Thematic analysis of included articles resulted in identifying six major barriers: (a) communication skill, (b) patient engagement and satisfaction, (c) training/education for clients with IDD, (d) attitude and knowledge of healthcare providers, (e) clients with IDD being excluded from health promotion and research, and (f) quality of accessing healthcare services. The themes presented here provide a starting point in understanding the accessibility of health information for IDD clients. This will facilitate our future research on health interventions for IDD clients through the use of healthcare technology.