Primary Care Enhancement Program for people with intellectual disability

About the pilot

The PCEP pilot includes:

• helping Primary Health Networks (PHN) support health professionals in caring for people with intellectual disability
• practical training and resources for general practitioners (GPs) and other primary health care professionals to improve their capability in this area
• health literacy resources for people with intellectual disability, their carers and family members.

We are running the PCEP pilot in four PHN regions:

• Central and Eastern Sydney
• Western Victoria
• Central Queensland, Wide Bay and Sunshine Coast
• Tasmania.

The PCEP is a priority of the National Roadmap for Improving the Health of People with Intellectual Disability.

Funding

We are investing $6.56 million (from 2020–21 to 2023–24) to develop the PCEP.

Goals

Most health professionals have minimal training in intellectual disability health care. Many people with intellectual disability have low health literacy.

The PCEP pilot aims to:

• increase the skills and ability of GPs and other health professionals to deliver effective health care for people with intellectual disability
• improve the health literacy of people with intellectual disability.

Progress

We engaged the Council for Intellectual Disability (CID) as part of the program in August 2020. This was to develop resources and training materials for both health professionals and people with intellectual disability.

CID used a collaborative co-design process to develop the PCEP training and resources. CID completed these in June 2022.

The four lead PHNs are now:

• delivering the PCEP training sessions to a range of health professionals such as GPs, practice nurses, dentists, pharmacists, and allied health professionals
• promoting the PCEP resources to health professionals
• promoting PCEP health literacy resources to people with intellectual disability.

An external evaluator is assessing the PCEP pilot. They will look at how effective the PCEP has been at improving the knowledge, attitudes and skills of primary care professionals in providing health care to people with intellectual disability.

Resources

Contact

For more information about the PCEP, please contact the Department of Health and Aged Care.