Sociological and educational perspectives of the health concerns of people with intellectual disabilities: developing the understanding of research and education

The aim of this thesis is to present a critical appraisal and impact of a programme of research focusing on the health needs and inequalities experienced by people with intellectual disabilities. Thirty-three peer reviewed research-based publications comprised the corpus of this thesis and were the subject of critical appraisal and thematic analysis. Three overarching themes were identified: (i) Health needs of people with intellectual disabilities; (2) Healthcare systems and access to evidence-informed care and support required by people with intellectual disabilities and (3) Evidence-based interventions and education and practice development. There is a growing and evolving research evidence of the significant health concerns of this population, with implications for service delivery, the education and development of practitioners and future research. Due to copyright restrictions parts of this thesis have been redacted.