Workshop Report: Establishing Priority Research Areas to Improve the Physical Health and Well-Being of Autistic Adults and Older People

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Warner, G., Parr, J. R., & Cusack, J. (2018). Workshop Report: Establishing Priority Research Areas to Improve the Physical Health and Well-Being of Autistic Adults and Older People. Autism in Adulthood, 1(1), 20-26. https://doi.org/10.1089/aut.2018.0003

Journal or book title
Autism in Adulthood
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Volume
1
Issue
1
Pages
20-26
Publication date: 18 Apr 2018 Added to AutiHub: 5 Jul 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
Publisher source (DOI) Full text OpenAlex source

This publication is integrated into AutiHub through:

Authors

Publication authors
3
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 3 (33.3%)
  1. Georgina Warner
  2. Jeremy R. Parr
  3. James Cusack *

Abstract

Abstract Many serious medical conditions are more common in autistic adults than the general population. Yet, improving the physical health and well-being of autistic adults has not been a significant research focus to date. In collaboration with Newcastle University (the United Kingdom), Autistica (the United Kingdom's autism research charity) hosted a workshop bringing together autistic people, relatives, clinicians, managers, clinical commissioners, international researchers, and funders to establish priority research areas and catalyze research to improve the physical health and well-being of autistic people. This article provides an overview of the design and methods used at the workshop to maximize collaborative working, and summarizes the 11 priority research concepts that emerged. Lay Summary Many serious medical conditions are more common in autistic adults than in the general population. Yet, improving the physical health and well-being of autistic adults has not been a significant research focus to date. Autistica (the autism research charity in the United Kingdom [UK]) and clinical researchers from Newcastle University (the UK) identified a need to establish priority research areas and encourage research to improve the physical health and well-being of autistic people. To achieve this aim, both parties cohosted a workshop that brought together autistic people, relatives, clinicians, managers, clinical commissioners, international researchers, and funders from Europe, Australia, and the United States. Thirty-nine people attended the 2-day workshop, which was held at a venue with an appropriate environment for autistic people. Eleven research concepts that might be used to improve the physical health and well-being of autistic people were identified: 1. Tailoring of existing measures of pain to better suit autistic people. 2. An international collaborative effort to agree a core set of demographic, health behavior and health outcome indicators most relevant to autistic people that can be compared with general population data. 3. Investigation of health care self-advocacy strategies and potential barriers to effective health care self-advocacy for autistic people. 4. Development of a tool to improve understanding of how factors influence personal well-being for autistic people. 5. A review of evidence on autism-specific health service accommodations and service design to inform what an autism-friendly health service looks like. 6. Adaptation of an online health care “toolkit” developed in the United States to facilitate the primary health care of autistic adults for use in the UK. 7. Development and evaluation of a personalized annual health check program for autistic people. 8. Evaluation of the types of cardiovascular and gut problems most prominent in older autistic adults, contributory factors, and treatment effectiveness. 9. Engagement with autistic people regarding opportunities to use knowledge about genetics and biology to improve health and well-being. 10. Exploration of the research priorities regarding sexual development and health in autism. 11. Investigation of autistic people's use and experiences of residential facilities for older people. The research concepts require further refinement and development. Measuring the impact of the workshop against the primary aim of encouraging research to improve the physical health and well-being of autistic people will take some years. Should one or more projects lead to new knowledge and services that improve the health and well-being of autistic adults and older people, the workshop will have been a success.

Bibliography cited by this reference

Cited references are imported from external metadata sources when they are available. The list may be partial.

Cited bibliography overview

These indicators describe the bibliography cited by this publication. An author name is counted each time it appears in one cited reference, so the same person can be counted more than once. Names not yet linked to an author already present in AutiHub are treated as unknown, not as non-autistic. Last computed: 2 Oct 2026 13:57.

Cited references
23
With a DOI
20
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
3
2 / 23 (8.7%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
1 / 23 (4.3%)
References with detected author names
22 / 23 (95.7%)
Without detected author names
1
Without a structured title
1
Without a stable identifier
3
References with raw author names still to review
1
References with external metadata lookup issues
0
These indicators apply to cited references displayed on this page, after technical duplicates have been merged. A reference without a DOI can still support author statistics when a title and author names are available.
Author names detected in the cited bibliography
94
From DOI or external metadata
94
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
1
34 / 94 (36.2%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 60 / 94 (63.8%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
5 / 94 (5.3%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 5 / 34 (14.7%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 5 / 88 (5.7%).
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