‘In Dialogue’ Episode 15: Inclusive Healthcare for People with IDD

In episode 15 of “In Dialogue,” CPSO EDI Lead and Medical Advisor Dr. Saroo Sharda speaks to Dr. Yona Lunsky, PhD, the inaugural director of the Azrieli Adult Neurodevelopmental Centre, about treating people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), the benefits of flexible and trauma-informed care, and addressing ableism in healthcare.

Dr. Lunsky is the younger sibling of someone with a developmental disability and draws on her lived experience to inform her work. She is a senior scientist in the Adult Neurodevelopment and Geriatric Psychiatry Division, and Director of the Health Care Access Research and Developmental Disabilities (H-CARDD) Program at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). She is also a clinical psychologist, professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto and adjunct scientist at ICES. Dr. Lunsky’s research focuses on the mental health needs of individuals with IDD and their families. She studies psychosocial risk factors for psychiatric disorders and health service utilization patterns in this population. Dr. Lunsky is also the principal investigator of several studies examining clinical and systems issues related to health services, and has published more than 250 papers and book chapters on health and developmental disabilities.

Related eDialogue Articles

• Invisible Three Percent
• The Importance of Feeling Safe
• Examining the Root Causes of Ableism
• What do Disability Biases Look Like in Practice?
• Ask the Patient, Not the Parent

CPSO Resources

• Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

Other Resources

• Primary care of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities: Canadian consensus guidelines (Canadian Family Physician, 2018)
• Developmental Disabilities Primary Care Program (Surrey Place)

  • Health Check: A Comprehensive Health Assessment of Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

• Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities: The Role of the Primary Care Practitioner (CAMH)
• Health Care Access Research and Developmental Disabilities (H-CARDD)

  • Health Care Resources

• Inclusive Research with Dr. Yona Lunsky (“IDD: Get to know me” podcast)
• “The mental health and well-being of adults with intellectual disability during the COVID-19 pandemic: A narrative review”