Special Announcements

This page provides space for SIRG-Aging & ID members to share information and brief messages.

Aging and Developmental Disabilities {Mailing List}-Listserver

The Aging-DD listserver has been active since April 1994 and provides a source of information for people interested in aging and developmental disabilities to have access to more than 300 plus subscribers who have different levels of experience in the areas of aging with dd. The mailing list or listserve subscribers ask or answer questions and provide information on an informal basis and do not spend time "chatting back and forth". The membership is open and is not moderated. If you would like to access this mailing list, you only need to do three steps:
Step 1. Prepare e-mail note to the following address: listserv@lsv.uky.edu
Step 2. In the body of the message type the following: Subscribe aging-dd Your name.
Step 3. Send your e-mail message.
Within 24 hours you will receive a reply asking you to acknowledge your subscription by typing OK and returning the reply. The mailing list is not moderated and to get off the list at anytime, you do the three steps again but type: Unsubscribe aging-dd in Step 2. Please be advised, one note sent to one person on the list goes to all the subscribers, so if you are expecting to have confidential correspondence here, you will be surprised!

There is an Australia website on Quality of Life developed by Dr. Roy Brown of the School of Special Education and Disability Studies, Flinders University of South Australia. To visit this new site, go to the SIRGAID Links page and follow the link.

A publication, by Lars Molander, titled: Intellectually Disabled People and Death is now available. Go to the SIRGAID Publications to read how to obtain his latest work.

The book, "Health Problems in People with Intellectual Disability," has been published by the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands. This book is highly recommended for anyone interested in health care or epidemiology of adults with ID. The text, subtitled "Aspects of morbidity in residential settings and in primary health care," is the Ph.D. thesis of Dr. Henny van Schrojenstein Lantman - de Valk. Dr. Lantman - de Valk's 125 page text covers the results of several linked studies that examined the health status of older adults with intellectual disabilties and contains the first published results of a comparative analysis of health status of a population of adults with ID and the general population. Several chapters cover matter published by the author in JIDR; others present previously unpublished information. For information on how to obtain a copy of this excellect text, contact Dr. Lantman - de Valk at Vriendenkringstraat 51, 6141 LH Limbricht, the Netherlands. Her email address is >> renhenny@knmg.nl <<

Assessing Older Adults - The PAS-ADD

Some people with mental retardation suffer from mental illness. This has been recognized for many years, but identifying and diagnosing the conditions can be very difficult. Carers may not realize that a problem is due to illness. Doctors may find it difficult to decide whether the problem is an illness, or to make a confident diagnosis. Ensuring that people with mental retardation get appropriate help for their mental health problems is not just a job for psychiatrists. Health and Social Service staff have an essential role in ensuring that people who have psychiatric problems are identified and referred for comprehensive assessment.
The Hester Adrian Research Centre at the University of Manchester in the UK has developed a series of tools called "PAS-ADD" - a multi-level approach to the detection and diagnosis of mental disorders in this population, designed for use by a wide range of professional and front-line care staff. Visit the web site on: http://www.biomed.man.ac.uk/ugrad/medicine/hester-adrian/PAGE1.HTML

Colleagues,
Noted below is a resolution derived from a meeting on disabilities that was held on Cyprus in March. The delegates at the meeting passed the resolution with the intent of having the UN take into consideration older people with disabilities when celebrating events related to the 1999 International Year of Older Persons. Your help in making your national organizations aware of this resolution and having them send letters endorsing it to the Secretary-General of the UN would be most appreciated.

If you need any further information about this, please contact me at mpjzj@aol.com -
Matt Janicki

The Larnaca Resolution