28 September 2021

Comprehensive Health, Lifestyle Risk Factors and Oral Health

Three new practice alerts provide guidance on supporting people with disability to improve their health.

Key points

• People with disability are at high risk of poor health and oral health, chronic disease and premature death from potentially preventable causes.
• They have a right to the highest attainable standard of health, and a right to choice and control regarding personal lifestyle and daily activities.
• Providers are required to monitor participants’ health, safety and wellbeing, and to support participants to maintain their health and access appropriate health services.

Practice Alert: Comprehensive Health

A regular comprehensive health assessment for people with disability improves detection of health needs, enables active management of those needs, and significantly reduces health risks and poor health outcomes.

The Practice Alert: Comprehensive Health provides guidance on how to support participants to access regular comprehensive health assessments and your obligations as an NDIS provider.

Practice Alert: Lifestyle Risk Factors

People with disability are more likely to have poor physical and mental health, which can be a result of lifestyle risk factors such as poor nutrition, lack of exercise, smoking, stress, loneliness and isolation.

The Practice Alert: Lifestyle Risk Factors explains what lifestyle risks are and how to support participants to achieve lifestyle changes that will match their own health and wellbeing goals.

Practice Alert: Oral Health

People with disability are at risk of poor oral (or dental) health, such as gum disease, tooth decay, loss of teeth and subsequent illnesses. Diseases of the mouth can affect the health of the whole body.

The Practice Alert: Oral Health provides guidance on supporting participants to take care of their oral health and to regularly access dental services.

About practice alerts

Practice alerts are based on contemporary research and evidence about issues affecting people with disability. They outline the risks and actions that can be taken to support participants, and your obligations as an NDIS provider.

We committed to developing this and other practice alerts in response to the research undertaken by Dr Carmela Salomon and Professor Julian Trollor into the causes and contributors to deaths of people with disability.

These practice alerts are available on the NDIS Commission website. Please read and follow the guidance outlined in these practice alerts, and share it with your workers to support participants with improving their health.