An annual health check is a key part of helping people with learning disabilities.
One of the best ways that we can help is with prevention and so we check someone’s health,
see if there are any health issues early on and help them prevent any complications down
the road by doing a top to toe assessment.
It’s really important because it helps us break those barriers that people with learning
disabilities often face and are often not seen.
Helping people with learning disabilities by giving them the tools to break these barriers
is absolutely essential in helping them take charge of their own health care.
A health action plan is a great way to make those changes that we discuss in the health
check and it is really useful because it helps support their wellness and allows them
to have a look at what they can do for their health and get involved to make those steps
to make those changes.
There are a numbers of things that actually
made this a good annual health check.
But four main things come to my mind The first one is that the doctor who was actually
going to be doing the health check called us himself.
He explained what the health check is about, how long it will take, what it will entail
and on top of that he even asked us himself whether there are going to be any reasonable
adjustments needed by Harshi.
Whether it is quieter time, you know she is not as confident on steps is there something
else we can do.
So that all made me feel more confident about going for the health check.
The second one was before the health check we actually received a pre-health questionnaire
which I could fill in with my daughter and that just made it easier for her and myself
in terms of what we were to expect coming to the health check.
The third thing which I think was actually important is that when we actually arrived
for the health check he actually spoke to her rather than me and asking me questions.
He asked her questions and because Harshi has enough communication skills to understand
what he was saying she could actually answer she took responsibility for her own health.
His style his personality everything really mattered which meant it was her health check
rather than you know something that I am just supporting her with.
And the fourth thing was, following on from the health check there was a need for a social
prescriber which meant it was someone who could actually talk to us for Harshi’s wellbeing
which in turn would help her with her health.
Do you know what a health action plan is?
Yes, it is a plan about my health.
It is given to me by the doctor after I have had my Annual Health Check.
How does your health action plan support you?
Because it tells me what I need to do to be
healthy in small steps.
For example it might tell me I need to do more exercise to keep myself fit.
It might also tell me that I need to eat more fruit and vegetables because these foods are
good for me.
I also like my health plan as it is easy for me to read and understand it.
It supports me as it helps me to stay well over the year.
Do you think young people with a learning disability should have an Annual Health Check?
Yes, most definitely.
I think it’s important for young people to know how to stay healthy with the help
of their doctor or nurse.