Roundtable Event Addresses Future of Ageing for People with Intellectual Disability

Sep 09, 2011

The 20th Roundtable of the Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual Disabilities (IASSID) took place recently at the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Trinity College Dublin.  Addressing the theme, 'Future Directions for Ageing Well: A Roadmap for Ageing in Persons with an Intellectual Disability’, the Roundtable event provided a platform for leading international researchers to come together to discuss issues and research related to ageing and intellectual disabilities. 

Professor Philip McCallion, Professor Christine Bigby, Professor Mary McCarron, Dr Jennifer Torr.

Ageing is a major focus of Trinity College’s research agenda and the School of Nursing and Midwifery is playing a leading role in understanding the ageing of people with intellectual disabilities.  Recently the first results from The Intellectual Disability Supplement to The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (IDS-TILDA), a national representative study of 753 people with an intellectual disability (ID)  aged 40 and over, and the most comprehensive study ever conducted on ageing in persons with an intellectual disability in Ireland, was launched at TCD.  The study, which was led by Head of the School of Nursing and Midwifery Professor Mary McCarron, is for the first time providing data on adults with intellectual disabilities comparable to data on ageing collected on the general population and is offering insights for policy and service design relevant for both national and international priorities.

The IASSID is an international, interdisciplinary and scientific non-governmental organisation that promotes worldwide research and exchange of information on intellectual disabilities.  Many of previous Roundtable proceedings have been published as international reports, often in collaboration with national and international organisations including the World Health Organisation.