Promoting healthy aging in adults with developmental disabilities

Abstract

This article reviews the research on health promotion for adults aging with developmental disabilities. First, it examines barriers to healthy aging, including health behaviors and access to health screenings and services. Second, it reviews the research on health promotion interventions, including physical activity interventions, health education interventions, and health care and screening preventive services. This review found evidence that the three types of health promotion interventions, physical activity and exercise, health education and mixed approaches, and health care and screening services can play a role in reducing health disparities for adults with developmental disabilities. Studies focusing primarily on physical activity and exercise tended to show improved fitness and some success in reducing obesity, reducing maladaptive behaviors, and improving alertness, though none of these studies showed longer term health benefits. The studies that took a more holistic approach by also including exercise and nutrition health education tended to show some evidence not only for changes in weight reduction but also for changes in health behavior attitudes (exercise self-efficacy, outcomes expectations, and barriers) and behaviors (e.g., dietary intake) and to a limited extent for improved life satisfaction. The literature on health screenings and services demonstrated the important role of health checks in identifying previously undetected conditions. These conditions include life threatening ones such as cancer and cardio-vascular disease, as well as less serious conditions that are often more common among adults with developmental disabilities and could be treated if caught early. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Dev Disabil Res Rev 2013;18:22–30.