Applying Lifestyle Medicine to Improve Health Outcomes in People With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

Abstract

Individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) and autism spectrum disorder experience disproportionately high rates of chronic disease, often exacerbated by systemic care barriers. Despite these concerns, interventions for this population rarely target overall health and wellness and often rely on practices that can contribute to poor health outcomes. This retrospective review includes data collected at The Center for Discovery, a residential care program for people with severe and complex disabilities. This analysis evaluates health outcomes among 295 adults with I/DD, including autism, who received a comprehensive lifestyle medicine intervention. Prevalence rates of chronic conditions among those receiving the intervention were compared to national and New York State disability benchmarks. Results suggest an association with substantially lower prevalence of key conditions, including obesity, diabetes, and hypertension, with a median risk ratio of 0.325 (range: 0.23-0.76) compared to U.S. population benchmarks. These findings suggest that participation in an integrated lifestyle medicine model, SynergE6® Healthspan Model, could be associated with lower chronic disease prevalence among adults with I/DD. Because this was a retrospective observational study using external benchmark comparisons, prospective controlled studies are needed to determine whether these associations are causal.