Like the general population, persons with intellectual disability require good health and health care services, but they, along with their caregivers and advocates, often encounter significant challenges in staying healthy and obtaining appropriate health care services when they are ill.

This report, created in workgroups at the Surgeon General's Conference on Health Disparities and Mental Retardation, December 5-6, 2001, in Washington, D.C., proposes that the wider community be involved in improving the health of persons with intellectual disability at the national, state, and local levels, within the public and private sectors, including government agencies, legislatures, corporations, health care organizations, schools, advocates, families, and others.

Each goal includes action steps, priorities, and potential strategies. For example, goal three on improving the quality of health care for people with intellectual disability suggests identifying priority areas of health care quality improvement, and then working with associations of health professionals to develop consensus on standards of care for such populations. Likewise, goal 6 addresses how to increase health care services for persons with intellectual disabilities.

The document concludes with some useful appendices, including a summary of the plenary session background presentations and a participants list from the conference, a list of potential partners in realizing the blueprint, information on programs and strategies to close the gap of disparities for the intellectual disability population, and summaries of the surgeon general's listening sessions on health disparities and intellectual disability, held October 10, 2001.

To view the entire document, go to http://www.ncpad.org/674/2915/2002-10-01