Dementia diagnosis for people with intellectual disabilities from minoritised ethnic backgrounds: Barriers and implications

Abstract

People with intellectual disabilities are at greater risk of developing dementia yet they experience multiple barriers to accessing diagnosis and support. The present review explores the additional barriers to dementia support that may be faced by people with intellectual disabilities from minoritised ethnic backgrounds and proposes that more research is conducted around the unique challenges experienced by this population.Easy to read summary■People with intellectual disabilities are more likely to get dementia, a type of memory problem.■People with intellectual disabilities come from different ethnic backgrounds.■It might be harder for people with an intellectual disability from certain ethnic backgrounds, such as people who identify as Black or Asian, to get the support they need for dementia.■We need more research on this to make things better for people with intellectual disabilities from all ethnic backgrounds.