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This paper presents current information on policy developments, service design, best practices, and approaches to empower the users of health and medical care services for people with intellectual disabilities in Poland. Polish regulations allow systemic support to be provided for all people with disabilities. However, Polish patients with intellectual disabilitiy (PwID) and their caregivers face many barriers. Although a key obstacle is the lack of a standard definition that approaches disability in an interdisciplinary way, PwID are also more likely to experience difficulties in personal communication in medical settings and less likely to encounter specialists prepared to work with this group. There is also a need to pay greater attention to the expectations of PwID. To facilitate a holistic approach to diagnosis and therapy, there needs to be coordination between different specialists, including medical staff, paramedics, psychologists, and teachers. Providing personal communication training for medical personnel, as well as developing dedicated procedures for PwID in primary health care, clinics and hospitals, will improve equal access to health and health literacy for all in Poland. Even so, it is important to respect the autonomy of PwID and the commitment of caregivers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Irish health and social care policy has undergone a significant evolution in recent years to address inequalities, improve standards and update models of care to incorporate a rights‐based approach. The following account describes the Irish health and social care system, as delivered in the Republic of Ireland, and details how it operates for those with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The paper is informed by government policy, legislation, reviews, national plans, parliamentary reports, and population data. Clear progress has been made in shifting from a service‐led to a rights‐based, service‐user led model of care; however, resourcing this fundamental transition in approach to service provision poses challenges for the Irish State. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The need for quality of life, both as a concept and as a measure, to be applied to policy and practice has been noted in the disability literature for several years. In 2012, Schalock and Verdugo introduced a conceptual model to help service organizations evaluate if congruence exists among their systems, policies, and practices and, if misalignments exist, to make changes through policy and systems change. Their model focuses on two levels, system-level processes and organization-level practices, at three consecutive stages of use: inputs, throughputs, and outputs. In this article, the authors extend the work of Schalock and Verdugo by adding a third level of application, individual- and family-level living, and propose the inclusion of outcomes as a fourth stage of use representing a consequence of outputs. We recognize the dynamic interaction among all components of the conceptual framework and, like Schalock and Verdugo, argue for alignment both vertically (system, organization, and individual and family living levels) and horizontally (inputs, throughputs, outputs, and outcomes) within our revised conceptual framework. Based on this, the authors propose that quality of life outcomes (the ongoing effects of outputs) should be an ultimate focus of service organizations and policy development if quality of life is to be enhanced for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Throughout their lives, all people, including those who have a disability, use a broad range of community services. Community services are important in assisting people with a range of impairments to participate in their communities. Vast geographic distances and a lack of therapists in rural and remote regions of Australia pose significant barriers for implementing policy aimed at supporting people with a disability. The aim of this study was to investigate the extent to which metropolitan-formulated policy encompassed the unique geographic, demographic, and sociocultural challenges experienced by rural therapists and people with a disability in New South Wales ( NSW). Twenty-seven policy documents were reviewed and categorized into tier 1 (higher level strategic policies) and tier 2 (specific operational policies). Tier 1 policy documents provided consistent messages about the need to develop strategies and service delivery options to address geographic, cultural, and age-related barriers facing all people in NSW including those who have a disability. Tier 2 documents revealed a lack of attention to the practical differences between implementing the policy principles in metropolitan compared with rural areas. Study findings identify that the implementation of metropolitan-formulated policy does not always encompass the unique challenges experienced by therapists providing services to rural people with a disability and their carers. This study highlights the importance of 'rural proofing' policy to consider people who live and work in rural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]