Family Matters: People with Down syndrome want to be included in decisions about their healthcare
Lunch with Pippa Hudson · 2 June 2026 · 16m
Speaker 1: In Family Matters. Today, I want to take a closer look at some recent research Speaker 1: that is coming out looking at how healthcare systems respond to the needs of people Speaker 1: living with Down syndrome. These were international studies, including researchers from our own Steembosh University, Speaker 1: and the findings have recently been published in the prestigious Lancet Journal, and really they Speaker 1: raise questions about how people with Down syndrome are not necessarily having their needs fully Speaker 1: met by our healthcare systems because they are not being consulted, they are not being Speaker 1: spoken to, they are not being asked what they need or what needs to change Speaker 1: to make the systems work better for them. And the phrase that came to mind Speaker 1: for me when I first read about this report was nothing about us without us, Speaker 1: which is a phrase I've often heard used in the context of autism research. But Speaker 1: it struck me that the kind of message coming out of this research speaks into Speaker 1: the same space about overcoming stigma and stereotype and people making decisions for those who Speaker 1: actually would like to have a brawl in making those decisions themselves. So it's really Speaker 1: a pleasure to welcome on the line via zoom lead researcher Professor Tracy Smith, who Speaker 1: is from the University of Stellenbosch's Department of Medicine and Health Sciences, where she works Speaker 1: within the Division of Physiotherapy. And Tracy, thank you so much for joining us this Speaker 1: afternoon. It's great to have you on the show. Speaker 2: Thank you. Pippo, it's a pleasure to talk with you today. Speaker 1: Thank you.…
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