The Mater Intellectual Disability and Autism Service (MIDAS) clinic has recently celebrated its 2nd anniversary as a Mater Service.

The MIDAS Clinic is a state-wide service which aims to improve the health and wellbeing of adults with intellectual and neurodevelopmental disabilities through clinical practice, education and research.

MIDAS continues the service formerly provided by Queensland Centre for Intellectual and Developmental Disability (QCIDD), a University of Queensland centre.

Psychiatrist and Senior Research Fellow Dr Cathy Franklin is the Director of the MIDAS Clinic and said in the last year, the clinic has helped 455 patients aged 16 years and over who are impacted by intellectual disabilities and autism.

“People with intellectual disability and/or autism have complex and specialised health care needs but these are not well addressed in mainstream services, and they and their families struggle to find help,” Dr Franklin said.

“We run a face-to-face clinic in the Mater Young Adult Health Centre Brisbane where we perform comprehensive health assessments. We also provide telehealth clinics for those in remote areas of Queensland. This is the only outpatient clinic of its type in Queensland and one of only a few services in Australia.

“Our services are very different as we assist GP’s and other health practitioners to support their patients and link in with other services and health professionals. We provide advocacy, consultation and liaison about management of issues associated with intellectual and developmental disability so people can have the best quality of life.’’

Laurelle Kemp’s sister was cared for through the MIDAS Clinic has been so pleased that her sister was cared for by the service.

“They treated my sister with dignity and respect, the care my sister received was life changing and she now has a much better quality of life,” Laurelle said.

Dr Franklin and her team have also attracted additional funding to support Queensland Mental Health Services who have patients with co-occurring mental illness and intellectual disability and/ or autism. The project was funded for 18 months and resulted in a total of 135 patients across Queensland receiving additional support from the MIDAS specialist service.

The MIDAS Clinic has recently been awarded an NDIS Mainstream Capacity Building Grant valued at $2.3 million over the next three years.

The research project is called the ‘Enhancing Access to Services for Your Health’ (EASY Health) Project which will look at ways to increase capacity in mainstream health and mental health services through understanding the perspectives of patients, carers and staff and using these insights to adapt, develop and evaluate tools and resources to assist people with intellectual disability to access health services.

Additional Information and Resources

For enquiries or to make a booking please contact:

Phone: 07 3163 2412

Email: midas@mater.org.au

Mater Intellectual Disability and Autism Service

Level 4, Salmon Building

537 Stanley Street

South Brisbane QLD 4101