SPIDAH Project

Western Victoria Primary Health Network’s (WVPHN) Supporting People with Intellectual Disability to Access Health or SPIDAH Project aims to improve how primary health care services are delivered to meet the needs of people with an intellectual disability.

Background

WVPHN is one of four primary health networks selected by the Commonwealth Government to develop and pilot local models to contribute to the Primary Care Enhancement Program (PCEP). The local models of the PCEP will be evaluated to consider the validity and requirements of a potential national roll-out for PCEP.

The program is part of the National Roadmap for Improving the Health of People with Intellectual Disability.

WVPHN has launched the SPIDAH Project to support our work in developing the PCEP. The project will involve working with the community and primary health care providers including:

By working with all involved in delivering and receiving primary health services, we aim to improve our understanding our how we and health care providers can better tailor and target those services for local needs.

SPIDAH Foundational Project Report

The SPIDAH Foundational Project Report provides an overview of the key themes and what we have learnt from 1 July 2021 – 16 December 2021 during our co-design learn phase of the project.

We heard from people with lived experience of an intellectual disability, family, carers, community members, disability service providers, health professionals and others about their experiences, thoughts and ideas about the primary health care system in western Victoria for people with an intellectual disability.

The report was launched on Thursday 5 May, 2022 and will help guide the next steps and future directions of the SPIDAH Project to deliver better health outcomes for people with an intellectual disability in our region.

View the SPIDAH Foundational Project Report	View the SPIDAH Foundational Project Report (Easy read version)

View the SPIDAH Education Playlist on Inclusive Practice

You can watch the SPIDAH Education playlist on Inclusive Practice and Reasonable Adjustments (Increase your knowledge on ID). The playlist has the full list of webinar topics.

Comprehensive Health Assessment Program (CHAP) – improving the health of adults with intellectual disability

The Comprehensive Health Assessment Program (CHAP) is an evidence-based tool for carrying out annual health assessments for people with intellectual disability in Australia. The CHAP tool is a two-part questionnaire requiring collaboration between the person with the intellectual disability, their supporter and their GP.

CHAP is now freely available for everyone to access on the Department of Health and Aged Care Adult Comprehensive Health Assessment Program (CHAP) webpage.  

Please see the following supporting resources on the CHAP.

Video 1: About the CHAP tool features Professor Nick Lennox, developer of the CHAP tool: Contains overarching information about the Comprehensive Health Assessment Program (CHAP) for people with intellectual disability

Video 2: About the CHAP tool features Kimberley Thomas, Nurse Practice Advisor, GenU: How to complete Part 1 of the CHAP tool: Comprehensive Health Assessment Program for people with intellectual disability

Video 3: GP lens on the CHAP tool features Dr. Amy Litras, General Practitioner and Clinical Editor of HealthPathways, Western Victoria Primary Health Network: GP lens on the Comprehensive Health Assessment Program (CHAP) – YouTube

Video 4: Uli Cartwright, a person with lived experience of disability talks about the CHAP Tool

View the webinar recording for health professionals about the CHAP Tool on the WVPHN YouTube page |Annual Health Assessments and the CHAP tool for people with an intellectual disability.

For additional CHAP-related resources, please view WVPHN’s PracticeConnect | Intellectual Disability webpage.

More information

Contact the WVPHN SPIDAH project team:

• Email: spidah@westvicphn.com.au

Intellectual disability health care resources

For further information about intellectual disability and intellectual disability health care resources, please visit WVPHN’s People with an Intellectual Disability webpage.