You are at: Home / Publications / Summaries by year / Summaries 2010 / An inexorable rise in intellectual disability?

An inexorable rise in intellectual disability?

Author(s)	Michiel Ras, Isolde Woittiez, Hetty van Kempen, Klarita Sadiraj
Publication date	10 March 2010
Keywords
Price	€
Number of pages
ISBN/ISSN/other	978 90 377 0468 6
Series	Publication
Number	2010-4
Research group	Public Services Sector

Original title: Steeds meer verstandelijk gehandicapten?

Demand for intellectual disability care has grown strongly in the Netherlands in recent years. Partly at the request of the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, the Netherlands Institute for Social Research/SCP measured the number of people with intellectual disabilities applying for care. The results are contained in this report. Our inventory reveals that demand for intellectual disability care has risen by an average of 9% per annum over the last decade. What has caused this growth? Are there specific groups coming into the sector, and if so are they applying for specific types of care? And how is the group of existing care-users developing? How long do they continue receiving care?

Our analysis produces a diffuse picture. The frequently cited influx of young people into the intellectual disability care system is found to be important, but does not offer a complete explanation for the growth in demand for and use of intellectual disability care. An increase in the number of applications from older persons, combined with the longer life expectancy of existing care-users, explain a substantial part of the growth. Almost half the total growth in demand is accounted for by an increase in long-term residential care. The increase in the provision of support is responsible for just under a quarter of the total growth, but this has been the fastest growing category over the last decade. In conclusion, we can say that growth is taking place across the board, and cannot be attributed to one specific factor.