Developmental Disabilities Primary Care Program

The Developmental Disabilities Primary Care Program of Surrey Place Centre, Toronto, develops, publishes and promotes clinical practice guidelines for primary care that are informed by ethics, empirical studies, expert knowledge, current research on health care systems and other contexts of care, and perspectives and experiences of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their caregivers.

Adults with developmental disabilities have poorer health and greater difficulty accessing primary care than the general population. The “Primary Care of Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: 2018 Canadian Consensus Guidelines”, published in the Canadian Family Physician (April 2018 issue), make recommendations on how to provide appropriate, effective and ethical care to adults with developmental disabilities in regard to physical, behavioural, and mental health issues. To access an online version of the Canadian Consensus Guidelines, visit: http://ddprimarycare.surreyplace.ca/guidelines/.

Most adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities reside in and receive primary health care in the community. Following the guideline recommendations, a number of tools were developed to assist primary care providers such as general practitioners, family physicians, nurses and nurse practitioners in caring for adults with developmental disabilities. To access the tools, visit: http://ddprimarycare.surreyplace.ca/tools/.

For more information on the Developmental Disabilities Primary Care Program visit www.surreyplace.ca/primarycare or email ddpcp@surreyplace.ca.