It’s well documented that people with autism face challenges in accessing healthcare. Things like the sensory environment of a doctor’s waiting room, difficulty identifying and reporting on symptoms and feelings of embarrassment or frustration can all cause autistic people to avoid getting the healthcare they need.
But those on the spectrum experience multiple physical and mental health conditions at higher rates than the general population, including gastrointestinal upset, sleep disorders, anxiety and bipolar.
To help address this, the Federal government has this week announced its National Roadmap to Improve the Health and Mental Health of Autistic People 2025–2035, which lays out ways to improve healthcare for people with autism.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics says close to 300,000 Australians are on the autism spectrum, highlighting just how important the roadmap is.
It’s based on feedback gained through a co-design process and was developed at the same time as the National Autism Strategy, released last month. The roadmap features six focus areas:
- Focus Area A – Improving support for Autistic people, their families and carers, in health and mental health services
- Focus Area B – Improving the quality, safety and availability of Autism Affirming health and mental health care across their lifespan
- Focus Area C – Building better connections between health, mental health, and other service sectors, including the NDIS
- Focus Area D – Improving autism education and training for health and disability professionals
- Focus Area E – Strengthening research and data on health and mental health of Autistic people and their families and carers
- Focus Area F – Arrangements for oversight, monitoring, and implementation of the Autism Health Roadmap
Roadmap to action plan
Actions are categorised within the report under each focus area, and include:
- Regularly reviewing existing Australian Government health and mental health information and resources for consumers and health practitioners, to ensure all autistic people’s needs are explicitly addressed.
- Developing information, resources and education for autistic people, their families and carers, in areas identified as key gaps in health literacy resources.
- Promoting autism affirming care within existing and future primary health care reforms.
- Co-developing and publicising an ‘autism passport’ that autistic people could choose to use to assist them in sharing information with relevant health and mental health services.
- Considering funding and prioritising research that identifies strategies to improve all autistic people’s overall health and health care.
- Enhancing existing resources and/or creating additional resources or services for health and mental health practitioners working in primary care to support autistic patients who need care beyond their direct expertise.
Dr Jac den Houting, research psychologist and Senior Research Fellow at La Trobe University’s Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre (OTARC), said the roadmap is “a long-overdue acknowledgement that autistic people face complex and entrenched barriers to accessing healthcare.”
“Its emphasis on autism-affirming care demonstrates that Autistic voices have finally been heard and that Autistic values have prevailed.”