Special Interest Research Group on Health Issues

Chairperson
Dr. Mike P. Kerr (Wales)
mp_kerr@yahoo.com

Vice chairperson
Dr Helen Beange (Australia)
helen@hcn.net.au

Steering Committee

Mike Kerr (UK) Chairperson mp_kerr@yahoo.com
Heleen Evenhuis (NL), Past Chairperson h.evenhuis@debruggen.nl
Helen Beange (AUS), Vice Chairperson helen@hcn.net.au
Bob Davis (AUS), Secretary robert.davis@med.monash.edu.au
Vee Prasher (UK), Treasurer vprasher@compuserve.com
Henny Lantman (NL) renhenny@cobweb.nl
Markus Kaski (FI) markus.kaski@rinnekoti.fi
Monica Björkman (SE) monicab@algonet.se
Olive Webb (NZ) Olive.Webb@ihc.org.nz
Robyn Wallace (AUS) R.Wallace@sph.uq.edu.au

The Special Interest Research Group on Health Issues was founded in 1996. Its aims are to promote physical health of people with an intellectual disability by formulating priorities for health care, research and training and by sharing ideas and results.

The group consists of general practitioners (family doctors), medical specialists, physiotherapists, speech and hearing therapists, optometrists, dieticians, dentists, and nurses (as well as others interested in health issues). The SIRG organizes annual roundtables in varying countries around specific themes, consisting of update lectures and free papers. The group has held roundtables in Leyden, the Netherlands (1998); in Manchester, England (1999); and in Gothenburg, Sweden (2001). No roundtable was held in 2000 due to the IASSID World Congress in Seattle..

One of its first activities was the development of an international consensus statement on the early identification of hearing and visual impairment in children and adults with an intellectual disability. Other themes have been: health targets, treatment and intervention of sensory impairment, consensus statement on epilepsy, pain, end-of-life decisions/palliative care, and comorbidity in cerebral palsy. At the IASSID congress in Seattle 2000, the SIRG organized and provided a pre-congress update course on visual impairment and coordinated congress symposia on physical health issues.

Copies of the Health Issues SIRG publications are available from the Chairperson

The next Roundtable for the Health Issue SIRG is scheduled for September 11-13, 2002 in Glasgow, Scotland and will be a combined roundtable held with the Mental Health SIRG. For information about the 2002 Roundtable, contact Dr. Sally Ann Cooper at SACooper@clinmed.gla.ac.uk

Related Documents

**Health Guidelines for Adults with an Intellectual Disability**

**Sensory Impairment Consensus Reports**
General Consensus report, Visual Impairment, Hearing Impairment

CDDH (Victoria Australia) Conference Flyer (PDF Document)
Health Issues SIRG Newsletter
Health Issues SIRG Newsletter Nov. 2001
Health Issues SIRG Newsletter June 2002
Health Issues SIRG Newsletter Jan2003