Review of Interventions to Enhance the Health Communication of People With Intellectual Disabilities: A Communicative Health Literacy Perspective

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Communicative health literacy is a term relating to the range of competencies and capabilities patients bring to the task of seeking information about their health and sharing it with others. This exchange can be problematic for people with intellectual disabilities. The aim of this review was to synthesize findings from interventions designed to improve health communication for people with intellectual disabilities. MATERIALS AND METHOD: Available evidence was systematically reviewed, and findings from 14 articles were synthesized in a narrative review. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Interventions addressed communicative aspects of health consultations, taking into account emotional factors and social context. Questions remain about how such interventions might impact on real-life health consultations and how issues of power might be resolved.