Special Olympics Ireland and Trinity College Dublin Partner to offer Online Training to Allied Health Professionals

Special Olympics Ireland and Trinity College Dublin Partner to offer Online Training to Allied Health Professionals

A free online training course is now available from the Trinity Center for Aging and Intellectual Disability thanks to a partnership between Trinity College Dublin and Special Olympics Ireland. The course is for all allied health workers (doctors, nurses, physical therapists, dentists, pharmacists, etc.) and provides an opportunity to understand the health needs of older adults with intellectual disabilities (ID). The course explores:

• The health disparities that exist between people with ID and their peers without disabilities
• The barriers that people with ID face in accessing health care
• The importance of regular health assessments in the long-term health of people with ID
• The communications challenges that can create barriers to quality care.
• Techniques that can be used in clinical practice to improve engagement with patients

A short video introduction to the course can be found here and registration for the course can be completed here. In addition to this course, Trinity College Dublin has utilized data from the Intellectual Disability Supplement to the Irish Longitudinal Study on Aging to create infographics on the health disparities that people with ID face in Ireland.