Many Australians coping with multiple disabilities
The Disability in Australia: multiple disabilities and need for assistance report, released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, examines the frequency of multiple disabilities and their impact on the care needs of Australians.
Dr Xingyan Wen of the Institute’s Functioning and Disability Unit said, “In 2003, half of all Australians with disability, or about two million people, had a combination of two or more disabilities.
“These disabilities can include intellectual, psychiatric, sensory/speech, disability from acquired brain injury (ABI) and physical disabilities,” he said.
More than half of people aged 15 to 44 with ABI (more than 85,000 people) or intellectual disability (over 95,000 people) had three or more disabilities.
“The more disabilities people had, the more likely they were to need help with ‘core’ daily activities such as self care, mobility and communication,” Dr Wen said.
“Some combinations of disabilities had more marked effects on people’s activity, participation in major life areas and the subsequent need for assistance,” he said.
The report shows a substantial proportion of care for people with multiple disabilities is provided by their family members and friends.
The report also found that people with multiple disabilities who needed very frequent assistance with daily activities were much less likely to have their needs fully met than people with less frequent need for assistance.
Among people with four or five disabilities, 30% of those living in households were unable to go out as often as they would like to participate in community activities, over 40% were living in institutions and a majority (77%) were aged 65 years or over.
