Source: IHC
24 November 2025
The New Zealand Health Survey 2024/25 shows that most people consider themselves in good health, while people with intellectual disability experience some of the poorest health outcomes in the country.
Despite IHC raising awareness of this issue for many years we are still waiting for government intervention that will address these substantial inequalities.
The New Zealand Health Survey reports that most New Zealanders are doing well:
- 86.6% of adults say they are in good, very good, or excellent health
- Nearly all children (97.5%) are reported to be in good health
- Adults report high life satisfaction (83.3%) and strong family wellbeing (83.2%)
- Daily smoking rates remain very low at 6.8%
- One in six adults (17.1%) and one in five children (19.1%) visited an emergency department in the past year
- 21% of children lived in households where food ran out often or sometimes. (ref. https://communications.cmail20.com/t/i-l-zxkjyd-tjiltkjdiu-y/ )
But these positive national trends do not reflect the experiences of people with intellectual disability.
Key health outcomes for people with intellectual disability1:
People with intellectual disability die up to 20 years earlier than the rest of New Zealand
- 50% of people with intellectual disability have a diagnosed mental health condition – more than twice the rate for people without intellectual disability
- 9% have a mood disorder – three times higher than the rest of the population
- 4% have been treated for a psychotic disorder – 13 times higher than people without intellectual disability
- 11.5% of people with intellectual disability are smokers – almost double the national smoking rate
- 62% of people with intellectual disability visited the emergency department in 2023. They are 2.7 times more likely to attend ED than those without intellectual disability
- Children with intellectual disability are more than twice as likely to go without fresh fruit, vegetables, or protein compared with other children.
The Reality Behind Self-Reported Health
Given their significantly lower life expectancy, high rates of preventable health conditions, and higher levels of unmet need, people with intellectual disability are far less likely to report being in good health than the general population. This stands in stark contrast to the overwhelmingly positive health ratings in the national survey.
IHC Senior Advocate Shara Turner says the findings show that people with intellectual disability continue to face avoidable and unacceptable health inequities.
“What this data shows is that Government health policies continue to fail people with intellectual disability. Without meaningful, system-wide change, people with intellectual disability will continue to experience poorer health outcomes and much shorter lives.”
IHC has worked closely with the disability and health sectors for many years to identify a set of changes that will start to improve health outcomes for people with intellectual disability.
IHC is calling for:
- Government-funded comprehensive annual health checks for all people with intellectual disability, with a focus on preventive healthcare
- Targeted preventative screening programmes and better monitoring of health outcomes, including a national intellectual disability marker in health records and wellbeing frameworks
- Improved healthcare professional training, including mandatory curriculum and ongoing professional development on communication, ableism, bias, and human rights
- Health literacy and advocacy support for intellectually disabled people and their families, including plain language resources, Easy Read formats, health passports, electronic health records, and evidence-based information
- A twin-track approach to care, combining mainstream health services with specialist intellectual disability healthcare teams, including nurses and liaison officers
- Better transition planning between paediatric, adult, and geriatric services
- Reduction of overmedication with psychotropic medicines, modelled on programmes such as the NHS STOMP initiative
- Inclusion of carers in hospital care teams and strengthening public health policies to improve health outcomes
- Monitoring and review systems for mortality and health outcomes, modelled on UK programmes like LeDeR, to identify risks and guide system improvements.
References
1 Beltran-Castillon, L., & McLeod, K. (Forthcoming). From Data to Dignity Reality Check 2026: Updated health and wellbeing indicators for New Zealanders with intellectual disability. IHC.
1 Beltran-Castillon, L., McLeod, K., & Stone, G. (2025). The Cost of Exclusion: Hardship and People with Intellectual Disability in New Zealand (p. 9389854 Bytes). IHC. https://doi.org/10.6084/M9.FIGSHARE.29387705.V1
