How To

In this section practical advice is provided about relevant clinical skills. Most of the advice is written, but pictures also feature. Some pictures are from the Books Beyond Words series, which has been pioneered by the Department of Psychiatry of Disability at St George's, University of London. Their particular merit is that they do not assume that readers are literate, and are relevant therefore to people with intellectual disabilities and people for whom English is not a first language. A number of articles are being prepared for this section. Please let us know if there are new topics that you would like us to include.

Clinical Communication: The General Medical Council consider effective and sensitive communication to be one of the "essentials of basic clinical method". "Doctors must be good listeners if they are to understand the problems of their patients and they must be able to provide advice and explanations that are comprehensible to patients and their relatives".
Consent and People With Intellectual Disabilities: The Basics: Guide covering the law in England in 2006. Different rules apply in other countries. This website is hoping to feature articles on consent in other jurisdictions. The legal situation in England will change when the Capacity Act comes into force in 2007.
Health Action Plans: Some Guidelines for General Practitioners and Primary Care Teams
Health Guidelines for Adults with an Intellectual Disability: Nutritional well-being is recognised as an important factor in maximising growth potential, maintaining health, and improving quality of life and longevity.
Books Beyond Words: Telling the Whole Story in Pictures: Books Beyond Words are full-colour picture books that address some of the problems in understanding experienced by people with intellectual and communication difficulties.
Common Health Problems Seen In Primary Care: How To Teach Medical Students: Useful advice on how to teach medical students
The Contribution of Actors with Intellectual Disabilities to the Training of Medical Students: In the past three years, some 1,000 future doctors at St. George's, University of London, have benefited from training by actors with intellectual disabilities.
How To Look After My Balls: We have designed a leaflet to help men with learning disabilities to learn more about their balls (testicles) and how to look after them. It is important for every man to check his balls regularly and to see his doctor immediately if he finds any changes in them.
Offering Health Checks to People with Intellectual Disabilities: Offering Health Checks to People with Intellectual Disabilities as Part of Medical Students' Primary Care Course
Guidelines for Managing the Patient With Intellectual Disability in Accident and Emergency: A&E is generally a strange and unfamiliar environment for anyone. For persons with intellectual disabilities, the experience may be particularly scary because they may not understand what is happening around them.

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An understanding of the nature of intellectual disability is essential for health care professionals, who are required to support equal access to their services for all disabled people.

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