The Project

The Project

Motivation

This project aims to help people with intellectual disabilities (ID) manage their health better in the digital age. About 20 million EU citizens have an intellectual disability. They are more likely to have health problems and develop other health conditions. People with intellectual disabilities have more health problems but their needs are not met. They are at risk of motor deficits, epilepsy, mental or oral health problems, chronic diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and obesity. The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities says that people with disabilities have the right to the same health care as everyone else. The European Disability Strategy 2021-2030 says that people with disabilities are four times more likely to have unmet medical needs than people without disabilities. The use of digital devices and the digitalization of health services have increased the relevance of Digital Health Literacy (DHL), which presents new opportunities and challenges. Digital Health Literacy is the ability to find and understand health information from digital sources and use it to solve health problems. Digital health literacy helps people manage their health better. This leads to better prevention, healthier lifestyles, and better health outcomes. Some studies say that people with intellectual disabilities are vulnerable in terms of health, health literacy, and health care. One reason is that they are digitally excluded.

Goals

ID-Health helps people with intellectual disabilities manage their health better by teaching them to use digital tools. To achieve this, we have four main goals.

  • To help people with intellectual disabilities learn more, gain new skills and change their attitudes so they can manage their own health better and use digital health tools in their daily lives.
  • To help people with intellectual disabilities to get to know resources that are easy for them to understand.
  • To help people with intellectual disabilities learn digital skills and digital health literacy.
  • To reach stakeholders from the intellectual disability sector and show them how Digital Health Literacy can help people with intellectual disabilities.

Target Groups

The target groups of the project are:

People with intellectual disabilities need help managing their health online. This project is for people with intellectual disabilities who need a little help. However, the project is inclusive and accessible, so those in need of more support can take part in training if they have the right support. Supporting people will help with the training process.

Supporting people: Disability professionals, relatives, and others involved in training and supporting people with intellectual disabilities are also included. They can help people with intellectual disabilities learn digital health literacy, which helps them manage their health. They will learn about new digital health tools and training methods.