The wicked problem of delivering primary health care to people with intellectual disabilities. Commentary on 'Attitudes and experiences of general practitioners who provided health care for people with intellectual disabilities: a South Australian perspective' (Smith Laurence, 2021)

摘要

The delivery of quality primary healthcare (from the perspective of general practitioners) and access to such care (from the perspective of people with intellectual disabilities) has been the focus of research for many years. The study by Smith and Laurence (2021) has demonstrated that despite many attempts to reduce inequities in primary health care for this group the problem is "highly resistant to resolution" (Briggs, 2018, para 1). It has the hallmark of a wicked problem (Australian Public Service Commission, 2018), a characteristic that primary health care for people with intellectual disabilities shares with climate change, obesity, Indigenous disadvantage, and land degradation. Is primary health care for people with intellectual disabilities really a wicked problem? My answer to this question is "yes," based on mapping it against the characteristics of wicked problems identified by the Australian Public Service Commission (2018).