Health check guidelines and billing for family physicians caring for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities: Incentives to improve care.

Objective: To examine the degree to which Canadian consensus guideline recommendations for annual comprehensive preventive care assessments of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) are being taken up by Nova Scotia family physicians since the introduction of incentive billing codes; and to discuss the importance of complete physical examinations for this patient population, extra time needed in clinic encounters, and challenges for practitioners providing care.

Design: Analysis of family physicians' billing of codes 03.04C and 03.

Teaching family medicine residents about care of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Problem Addressed: Adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), a group with complex health problems and inequities in access to health care, look to family physicians for primary care.

Objective Of Program: To enable residents to learn and demonstrate competencies that are unique to the care of adults with IDD with minimal extra time and resources required of the residency program.

Program Description: In their regular family medicine teaching practices, residents undertake planned encounters with adults with IDD involving comprehensive health assessments with physical examinations.

Improving transition to adulthood for adolescents with intellectual and developmental disabilities: Proactive developmental and systems perspective.

Objective: To demonstrate how family physicians can contribute to a piece of the journey of improving quality-of-life outcomes for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) when they undergo the transition from adolescence to adulthood.

Sources Of Information: The "Primary care of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. 2018 Canadian consensus guidelines" literature review and interdisciplinary input.

Primary care of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities: 2018 Canadian consensus guidelines.

Objective: To update the 2011 Canadian guidelines for primary care of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).

Methods: Family physicians and other health professionals experienced in the care of people with IDD reviewed and synthesized recent empirical, ecosystem, expert, and experiential knowledge. A system was developed to grade the strength of recommendations.

Healthcare for persons with intellectual and developmental disability in the community.

Introduction: While there has been impressive progress in creating and improving community healthcare delivery systems that support people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), there is much more that can and should be done.

Methods: This paper offers a review of healthcare delivery concepts on which new models are being developed, while also establishing an historical context. We review the need for creating fully integrated models of healthcare, and at the same time offer practical considerations that range from specific healthcare delivery system components to the need to expand our approach to training healthcare providers.

Factors affecting the age at diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders in Nova Scotia, Canada.

While early diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is essential for ensuring timely access to early intervention services, there is limited existing literature investigating factors that delay this diagnosis. This population-based cohort study explored the age at which children in Nova Scotia, Canada, are diagnosed with ASDs and the factors associated with this age. Children diagnosed with an ASD between January 1992 and December 2005 were identified from a cohort of live births in the province between 1990 and 2002.

Primary care of adults with developmental disabilities: Canadian consensus guidelines.

Objective: To update the 2006 Canadian guidelines for primary care of adults with developmental disabilities (DD) and to make practical recommendations based on current knowledge to address the particular health issues of adults with DD.

Quality Of Evidence: Knowledgeable health care providers participating in a colloquium and a subsequent working group discussed and agreed on revisions to the 2006 guidelines based on a comprehensive review of publications, feedback gained from users of the guidelines, and personal clinical experiences. Most of the available evidence in this area of care is from expert opinion or published consensus statements (level III).

Consensus guidelines for primary health care of adults with developmental disabilities.

Objective: To develop practical Canadian guidelines for primary health care providers based on the best available evidence for addressing health issues in adults with developmental disabilities (DD).

Quality Of Evidence: Authors of background papers synthesized information from their own clinical experience, from consultations with other experts, and from relevant professional publications. Based on discussions of these papers at a colloquium of knowledgeable health care providers, a consensus statement was developed.

The Medical Humanities Program at the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

The current Medical Humanities Program at the University of Manitoba has evolved from a series of voluntary sessions into an integral element of the curriculum since its inception as the Human Values Program in 1986. With strong academic and financial support, the Medical Humanities Program has greatly benefited from dedicated leadership and a commitment to ongoing curricular review and redevelopment. The current Medical Humanities Program comprises six distinct components: Clinical Ethics; History of Medicine; Law; Complementary and Alternative Medicine; Palliative Care; and Human Values.