Gynecological Health Women with intellectual disabilities: one third of them has never been made a review

At the end of the year, the 'Reality and Gynecological Health Needs Study of Women with Intellectual Disabilities and/or Development', an investigation carried out between the Autonomous University of Madrid and the full inclusion Madrid organization to evaluate to evaluateThe access of women with intellectual disability and development to gynecological health.

The result of this study shows that this access is quite poor and shows very worrying data, which shows the need to design a specific plan to improve this situation.

Few or no gynecological review

According to study data, based on a survey that a woman with intellectual disabilities and their families responded, one in three has never attended a gynecological review. Among the causes, women themselves recognize that fear or shame, but also because, especially families, they consider that, “historically, women with intellectual disabilities and development have been very overprotected people, much more than the Men with this type of disability, ”says Rebeca Tur, coordinator of the Gender Program of Full Inclusion Madrid. "They have always suffered more overprotection, especially in the issue of sexual relations, because it has been considered to be a dangerous issue, on which they have no control ... and they have not been allowed to have a full sexual and emotional life. So, if it is taken for granted that they will not have sex, it is directly thought that they do not need to go to gynecologist, but they forget the medical part of health. ”

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This can seriously compromise the health of these women, in addition to their right to decide, “the issue of sexual relations in people with disabilities remains a very taboo subject, and both the family and the professionals that surround them the only thing they seeIt is a risk of pregnancy, ”says Rebeca Tur.In addition, not only women who have sex are at risk of gynecological diseases, “it is true that uterus cancer is closely associated with HPV (human papillomavirus), and this with sexual intercourse, but there are other diseases and discomfortThey can have and that, if they are not controlled, can put their health at risk, such as breast cancer, myomas, piomas polycystic ovaries, strong rule pains ... if any woman makes their gynecological reviews, why don't they? ".

Another problem is the accessibility of consultations.In addition to the fact that they derive less from primary care, once they are derived, they feel quite lost, nobody explains what the consultation consists of and even in most cases (almost 60%) not even the professional speaks directly themto them.

No training, information and little ability to choose

Although women have to live many years of their life with menstruation, according to this study, in many cases they are not well informed or let them decide, for example, what kind of hygiene products use, something that only onlyThey make 6% of the respondents.Nor are they very aware of the day of the month in which the next menstruation (54%) touches what menopause is (51.6%).These and other data show the lack of training and information, both of the women themselves, as of their environment and of the medical professionals that have to attend them.

To solve these deficiencies, full inclusion Madrid, from their group of women, have been concerned with this issue for years, “we have a group of women with and without disabilities from different organizations and for some years we have started with different actions.One of them was to do this study and we have continued with formations of different topics (contraceptives, menopause ...), we elaborate materials adapted with easy reading to be more accessible, we are also seeing how to make the most accessible gynecological consultations ... ”.

However, this is insufficient, so they ask for more collaboration to create a plan to improve the gynecological health of these women.This plan should include, for example, “that the specific needs of these women are taken into account and that they are provided with tools and resources for these women to be guaranteed their right to health.And for that, for example, you have to do the most accessible hospitals and consultations, that they are explained very well what they are going to do in the consultations, that they are talked to them, that they are dedicated more time ... ”.

In short, more resources, specific financing to guarantee, really, their right to health. Otherwise, "it undertakes, not only the right to health, but also its right to motherhood and the right to understand the world in which one lives." And it is that Rebeca Tur recognizes that, especially the issue of motherhood among women with disabilities “remains a very controversial issue, there is a lot of resistance from families to women with intellectual disabilities are pregnant. There is the wrong idea that if you cannot take care of themselves, how they will take care of others, and that is not true, because many of them end up being caregivers of nephews, parents ... why will they not be able to take care of a child ? They will need support and help like all the mothers of the world, but they are always blamed that all the help they need is for their disability. These women must be supported and form, not simply to cancel a part of their life, ”she emphasizes.