There are two steps to producing this educational material:

  1. The step-by-step written information for each procedure
  2. To gain a picture of what each step means

To gain all of the information required for each procedure, QCIDD asked health professionals for input. Some of the procedures are quite complex and needed a lot of explanation. Thus QCIDD approached experts in the field of the procedures to ask for their assistance in gaining a task analysis of the health procedure.

The second issue was gaining pictures of the procedures. To aid in the understanding of the medical procedures, some adults with intellectual disabilities may require concrete examples for each step of the procedure. The easiest way to obtain this is through pictures. Adults with intellectual disabilities may have difficulty in understanding written communication, thus adding pictures to the words can mean greater depth of understanding.

If people with intellectual disabilities can understand and become less anxious about health procedures then this will benefit every health care professional. When everyone understands what will happen during medical procedures then the procedures will run more smoothly for professionals, adults with intellectual disabilities, their carers and families.