ATTITUDES OF GENERAL-PRACTITIONERS TO CARING FOR PEOPLE WITH LEARNING-DISABILITY

Background. The views of general practitioners on their increasing rol e in caring for people with learning disability in the community are n ot known. Aim. A study was carried out to assess the views of general practitioners with regard to providing routine care, organizing health promotion and specific health checks for people with learning disabil ity and the role of specialists. Method. A postal questionnaire was se nt to all 242 general practitioners in Gwent, south Wales. Participant s had to mark their level of agreement with 20 attitude statements reg arding learning disability. Results. A total of 126 general practition ers (52%) responded. Respondents generally agreed that general practit ioners were responsible for the medical care of people with learning d isability. Respondents tended to be opposed to providing regular struc tured health promotion for people with learning disability, such as an nual health checks and assessing hearing and eyesight. Specialist serv ices were generally valued by respondents. Conclusion. General practit ioners largely accepted their role as primary health care providers fo r people with learning disability. In contrast, their role as provider s of health promotion for this patient group was not generally accepte d. Further research into the appropriateness and opportunity costs of health screening for people with learning disability is needed.