IMPACT-LD

Warwick Applied Health - Projects

IMPACT-LD

Improving annual health checks for teenagers with a learning disability (IMPACT-LD)

Project background

What problem is IMPACT-LD trying to address?

People with a learning disability are at a greater risk of a range of poorer health outcomes compared to people without a learning disability. One attempt to try to improve the health of people with a learning disability has been through annual health checks. This scheme means that all people with a learning disability who are aged 14 and over and live in England can access a free yearly health check through their GP. Previous research has shown that annual health checks with adults with a learning disability can help to identify and treat health problems. However, uptake of annual health checks is lowest among 14-17-year-olds with a learning disability, and there is little research on the impact of annual health checks in young people with a learning disability.

What are the aims of IMPACT-LD

The aims of the research are to a) gather information from multiple stakeholders to better understand why uptake of annual health checks is low in children and young people aged 14-17 years with a learning disability, and b) co-design an intervention to increase uptake and quality.

What does the project involve?

IMPACT-LD involves two phases

Phase 1 involves a range of methods to improve our understanding of the accessibility, uptake, content, and impact of annual health checks with young people. Specifically, this involves:

Case studies with General Practices
Interviews with primary care staff
A focus group with NHS England and NHS trusts
Analysing data from anonymised GP electronic health records
Interviews with, and a survey of, family carers of teenagers with a learning disability
Interviews with teenagers with a learning disability

We will then draw on these findings to co-design an intervention to increase the uptake and quality of annual health checks for children and young people. The intervention will be developed in partnership with a Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) group of family carers, GPs, and people from social care and education.

Phase 2 of the project will then involve a small-scale trial of the newly developed intervention. This will help us to examine whether it is possible to put the intervention into practice, whether it might be beneficial, and what family carers and healthcare professionals think of the intervention.

Image outlining the phases of the project

What outputs will IMPACT-LD deliver?

The project will deliver a range of outputs including:

The newly developed intervention to improve annual health checks for young people
A guide for primary care professionals about conducing annual health checks with young people
Guidelines on conducting annual health checks with young people with a learning disability
Presenting project findings at conferences and dissemination events for primary care professionals
Publishing research articles to improve understanding of the uptake and impact of annual health checks for young people

Easy read summary

Yearly health checks are where a person talks about their health with a doctor or nurse

We are doing research about yearly health checks for teenagers

We want to learn why some teenagers do not have yearly health checks

We want to learn whether yearly health checks help teenagers with learning disabilities to be healthy

We will ask doctors and nurses what they think about doing yearly health checks with teenagers

We will ask parents of teenagers what they think about yearly health checks

We will ask teenagers what they think is good or bad about annual health checks

Then we will think of ideas to make yearly health checks better for teenagers

We will do research to see whether our ideas help more teenagers have their yearly health checks

Meet Our Team

Dr. Hayley Crawford, Associate Professor, University of Warwick

Chief Investigator

Dr. Benjamin Costello, Research Fellow, University of Warwick

WMS Core Research Team

Raqeeb Mahmood, Project Manager, University of Warwick

WMS Core Research Team

Dr. Daniel Sutherland, Research Fellow, University of Warwick

WMS Core Research Team

Professor Umesh Chauhan, Professor and GP, University of Central Lancashire

Co-applicant

Rachel Davies, expert by lived experience, public contributor

Co-applicant

Dr Samantha Flynn, Assistant Professor, University of Warwick

Co-applicant

Professor Kylie Gray, Professor, University of Birmingham

Co-applicant

Pardip Hundal, Assistant Director for Quality Improvement and Health Inequalities/Deputy Programme Director, Learning Disabilities & Autism programme, NHS England

Co-applicant

Dr Ashley Liew, Consultant Paediatric Neuropsychiatrist, South London and Maudsley NHS foundation trust

Co-applicant

Dr Jo Parsons, Assistant Professor, University of Birmingham

Co-applicant

Wendy Pinson, Clinical Programme Manager, Learning Disability and Autism Programme, NHS England

Co-applicant

Dr Rachel Spencer, Associate Clinical Professor and GP, University of Warwick

Co-applicant