ACTIVITIES FOR WHICH ASSISTANCE WAS NEEDED

In 2012, of all people with disability, the most commonly reported activities for which formal assistance was required were health care (45.4%), property maintenance (37.5%) and cognitive and emotional tasks (33.9%).

Of those with a need for formal assistance, the level of unmet need varied according to the activity for which the assistance was needed. Around half of those with a formal need for assistance with communication (52.9%), property maintenance (50.6%), or reading and writing (50.0%) reported that they had an unmet need for that assistance. In contrast, of those with a formal health care assistance need, one-quarter (25.0%) reported that their needs for that assistance were unmet.



ACTIVITIES BY AGE

For certain activities, unmet need for formal services disproportionately impacts people of particular age groups. While young children (aged 0-14 years) made up just 11.9% of people with an unmet need for assistance overall, they represent over two-thirds (69.4%) of people with an unmet need for formal communication assistance, and over one-quarter (28.2%) of those with an unmet need for cognitive and emotional support.

In addition, while young people aged 15-24 years made up just 6.1% of those with an unmet need for formal assistance, they represented over one-third (34.6%) of people with an unmet need for formal assistance with reading and writing, and 13.1% of those with unmet formal communication assistance needs.



In contrast, people in older age groups were more likely to need other types of formal assistance. Around half of those with an unmet need for formal assistance with property maintenance (51.0%) and health care (48.7%) were aged over 65 years.

MULTIPLE UNMET NEEDS

Many people with a need for formal assistance had more than one activity for which their needs were unmet. This was particularly so for those with an unmet need for formal communication assistance, of which almost two-thirds (65.6%) also had an unmet need for formal assistance with cognitive and emotional tasks.

Likewise, almost half (47.1%) of those with an unmet need for formal assistance with self-care activities had an unmet need for formal assistance with mobility.

LONG TERM HEALTH CONDITIONS

Overall, the most common long term health conditions reported by those needing formal assistance were arthritis and related disorders (37.7%), hypertension (34.5%) and back problems (31.3%). These were also the most commonly reported conditions amongst those with an unmet need (36.1%, 32.1% and 34.0%, respectively), reflecting the older age profile of these groups.

Some disabling conditions have more complex formal assistance needs than others due to the range and severity of impacts on day to day living. In 2012, a number of conditions commonly associated with younger people had higher rates of unmet need for formal assistance.

For example, around two-thirds of people with a need for formal assistance who had Autism and related disorders (66.7%), Attention deficit disorder/hyperactivity (62.2%) and other developmental disorders (69.4%) had an unmet need for formal assistance. In contrast, less than half of those with a need for formal assistance who reported having diabetes (45.9%), high cholesterol (46.0%) or hypertension (47.1%) had an unmet need for formal assistance.



DISABILITY TYPE

In 2012, of all people with disability who needed formal assistance, three-quarters (74.9%) had a physical disability, followed by sensory and speech (33.8%), psychological (26.8%) and intellectual (20.7%) disabilities.

Whether a person's need for formal assistance was met varied according to the type of disability they had. Of those with a reported need for formal assistance, higher rates of unmet need were found amongst those with intellectual (61.4%) and psychological (59.4%) disabilities, than those with physical (51.1%) and sensory and speech (50.2%) disabilities.