The authors sought to create a demographic, socioeconomic, and health-related profile of older (40+) Canadian adults with developmental disabilities (DD) residing in their communities, and to enhance current knowledge of their unmet health and social support services needs. They provide a secondary analysis of cross-sectional data from the 2001 and 2006 Participation and Activity Limitation Surveys (PALS). The study population comprised PALS respondents who: (a) were at least 40 years of age at the time of the survey and (b) were reported having a DD. Weighted data were used to describe and compare the profiles of the study population and the comparison group (PALS respondents age 40+ with other types of disability), and to estimate the prevalence of reported unmet healthcare and social support services needs. Logistic regression analyses determined the extent to which these needs affected the target population's overall health status. The data revealed that an estimated 136,570 Canadians age 15+ reported having a DD in 2006. Of these, 66,560 (48.7%) were at least 40 years of age. An estimated 47.7% of this population rated their overall health status as either fair or poor. The prevalence of reported unmet healthcare and social services needs decreased between 2001 and 2006 for both study groups, but it was still much higher for older individuals with DD than for the comparison group in 2001 and 2006. Controlling for the effects of all the other factors, the authors found that reported unmet needs did not significantly affect respondents' overall health status. The authors concluded that compared to Canadians with other types of disability, those with DD were more likely to report unmet healthcare and social support services needs. Further research is needed to explore policies and programs which support the healthy and active aging of this population.

Study Objective. To estimate and compare the prevalence of dementia and depression among adults with and without developmental disabilities (DDs). Methods. We linked data from several provincial administrative databases to identify persons with DDs. We matched cases with DD with persons without DD as to sex, age, and place of residence. We estimated the prevalence of dementia and depression and compared the two groups using the Generalized Estimating Equations (GEEs) technique. Results. The estimated prevalence of depression and dementia among younger adults (20–54) and older adults (50+) with DD was significantly higher than the estimated rates for the matched non-DD group (Depression: younger adults: RR = 2.96 (95% CI 2.59–3.39); older adults: RR = 2.65 (95% CI 1.84–3.81)), (Dementia: younger adults: RR = 4.01 (95% CI 2.72–5.92); older adults: RR = 4.80 (95% CI 2.48–9.31)). Conclusion. Significant disparities exist in mental health between persons with and without DDs.

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The authors report on the outcome of a consultation workshop held in Iran, which focused on knowledge translation (KT) and intellectual and developmental disability (IDD). The goal was to learn more about the contextual factors that facilitate and impede KT in applications related to IDD in Iran. Forty‐six stakeholders participated, representing the perspectives of policy‐makers, administrators, parents, practitioners, and researchers. The authors introduced a conceptual framework for KT and assessed KT capacity using a validated tool. They facilitated discussions among stakeholder groups with respect to contextual facilitating and impeding factors, and suggested ways to improve IDD‐related KT activities in Iran. The authors found that all of the stakeholder groups highly valued research, but there were statistically significant differences among the participating stakeholder groups in acquiring, accessing, adapting, and applying research information to their practice. A number of factors, including the existing connections between parents and practitioners, could potentially facilitate the development of collaborative KT strategies. A lack of time, incentives, and resources were reported by all stakeholder groups as impeding factors for KT in IDD. The authors believe the researchers in Iran need to work closer with stakeholder groups to develop KT strategies with respect to IDD and thus achieve more effective dissemination of research findings that affect policy and practice.

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