• The Arnau d'Escala Campus Foundation and IDIBGI-IAS participate in the "Equal Treatment" project to train health professionals and guarantee the rights of people with intellectual development disorders.
• According to European Union data, people with learning disabilities (neurodevelopmental disorders) have a four times higher risk of dying because they have not received adequate care for their health needs, both physical and mental.

The Arnau d'Escala Campus Foundation of Girona and the Institute for Biomedical Research of Girona (IDIBGI) - Institute for Health Care Assistance (IAS) are participating in the European project "Equal Treatment" (Non-Discriminatory Treatment). The aim of this project is to improve the access and appropriate treatment of people with intellectual disabilities to health services, through the training of professionals involved in the care process of this group and their families or support persons.

According to European Union data, people with a learning disability have a life expectancy that is seven years shorter than the rest of the population and their risk of dying is four times higher because they have not received health care that meets their needs. Likewise, it is estimated that between 1% and 3% of the world's population has some level of intellectual disability, which in most cases is mild. Moreover, people in this group have a much higher risk of mental health problems than the general population. For example, up to 20% of this group may have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

In this context, the managing director of the Arnau d'Escala Campus Foundation, Lluís Marroyo, believes that the project will allow progress to be made in providing care that is "more equitable and on an equal footing with the rest of the population". "The most important thing is that the results of the project aim to cover an identified deficit that exists in studies of the health field in relation to the treatment of people with intellectual disabilities," says Marroyo. Thus, "the project also contributes to guaranteeing the rights of people with disabilities", remarks the managing director of the Arnau d'Escala Campus Foundation.

On the other hand, Laura Vergés, a researcher in the IDIBGI-IAS Neurodevelopmental Disorders research group and one of the heads of the Equal Treatment project, stresses that the aim of the programme's partners is to provide administrative staff with more "skills", the medical personnel and the auxiliary personnel of operating theatre and portalliteres, among others, at the time of attending to "the specific needs" of the people with intellectual disabilities. This group has more care needs than the rest of the population, but instead there is a situation of under-diagnosis and, consequently, inadequate care for their needs". "The programme aims to provide the staff with more tools to improve this care", Vergés assures us. The project may also represent an improvement in specialised health services when it comes to assisting people with intellectual disabilities, stresses Vergés, a psychiatrist at the IAS Intellectual Disability Service.

In order to be able to define the subject matter, the participants in the project - including those responsible for health, university centres and social organisations - carried out surveys of people with intellectual disabilities and the people who support them to find out how they perceive the care they receive. The people enrolled in the three training modules, of six hours each, also learn about the rights of people with disabilities, the legislative framework of the European Union, the laws of the States and in what aspects of life this type of disability affects.

The "Equal Treatment" project of the Erasmus+ programme has a total budget of 250,000 euros. It will start in January 2022 and will finish at the end of this year. Seven partners are taking part: apart from the Arnau d'Escala Campus Foundation and IDIBGI-IAS, there are institutions and universities from Belgium, Greece, Finland and Lithuania. The meeting in Girona today and tomorrow at EspaiCaixa is the fourth among members. Previously, they had met in Athens (Greece), Kaunas (Lithuania) and Brussels (Belgium).

About IDIBGI

The Institute for Biomedical Research of Girona Dr. Josep Trueta (IDIBGI) carries out translational research to improve people's health and care. IDIBGI is organised into 24 research groups distributed into five scientific areas (Cardiovascular and Respiratory, Metabolism and Inflammation, Neurosciences, Oncohematology and Mental Health) that bring together more than 400 people, including health professionals and basic researchers, in the Girona region.

The IDIBGI is a private foundation of the public sector of the Generalitat de Catalunya, and its board of trustees is made up of the Departments of Health and Research, the Catalan Health Institute (ICS) Girona, the Institute of Health Care (IAS), the Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO) Girona, and the University of Girona. The IDIBGI is a CERCA centre (Research Centres of Catalonia).

About the Arnau d'Escala Campus Foundation

The Arnau d'Escala Campus Foundation, with more than twenty-three years of experience, is a space for applied research, innovation and knowledge transfer in the field of social and social-health services. The name of the entity refers to a 13th century ecclesiastic from Girona who promoted the creation of the Pia Almoina in Girona, a charitable entity linked to the Bisbat.

During 2023, the Campus Arnau d'Escala Foundation will provide specialised training activities to 173 professionals in the social and health fields, will participate in 10 Catalan and international research projects, will advise more than 115 professionals and will carry out 18 informative and awareness-raising events for more than 800 people, through Dixit Girona, the Marià Casadevall documentation centre that the Foundation has been managing since 2009. The Foundation's board of trustees is made up of the University of Girona, Girona City Council and the Drissa Foundation.