Improving annual health checks based on the health consultation experiences of people with learning disabilities
Intended for healthcare professionals
Evidence and practice    

Improving annual health checks based on the health consultation experiences of people with learning disabilities

Hazel Margaret Chapman Postgraduate tutor, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Society, University of Chester, Chester, England

Why you should read this article:
  • To recognise the importance of annual health checks in identifying health conditions and reducing health disparities

  • To learn about the experiences of health consultations involving people with learning disabilities, including potential barriers to care

  • To consider how to promote engagement with annual health checks

Annual health checks in primary care improve the detection of health issues in people with learning disabilities. The NHS has set a target for at least 75% of people with learning disabilities aged 14 years or over to receive a health check every year by 2023-2024. However, not all primary care professionals are trained adequately in communicating with people with learning disabilities and the number of learning disability nurses in the NHS continues to decline. This article draws on the findings of a constructivist grounded theory study and other relevant literature to discuss the experiences of people with learning disabilities of interacting with healthcare professionals and what can be learned from these experiences to improve annual health checks.

Learning Disability Practice. doi: 10.7748/ldp.2023.e2224

Peer review

This article has been subject to external double-blind peer review and checked for plagiarism using automated software

@hchapman2

Correspondence

h.chapman@chester.ac.uk

Conflict of interest

None declared

Chapman HM (2023) Improving annual health checks based on the health consultation experiences of people with learning disabilities. Learning Disability Practice. doi: 10.7748/ldp.2023.e2224

Published online: 14 September 2023

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