Health promotion for young people with profound and multiple learning disabilities
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Health promotion for young people with profound and multiple learning disabilities

Kathy Davis Nurse researcher, The Children’s Trust, Surrey, England
Simone Carter Lead school nurse, The Children’s Trust, Surrey, England
Elizabeth Myers School nurse, The Children’s Trust, Surrey, England
Nicola Rocca Infection, prevention and control lead nurse, The Children’s Trust, Surrey, England

Research confirms that children and young people with severe learning disabilities do not have the same level of access to high-quality care, health education and health promotion activities as children and young people without disabilities.

This article discusses a quality improvement, action research project to investigate alternative approaches to health promotion that enhance the health and well-being of children and young people with complex neurodisabilities. The project involved assessment of school records and completion by staff of an eight-question survey. It found that the proactive approach of school nurses in raising awareness and understanding through questioning was positively received, and reinforced how meaningful and relevant information could be delivered to these young people. The project also had unexpected benefits, including more integrated team working, increased knowledge, greater awareness and understanding of the importance of health promotion participation, and student satisfaction.

Nursing Children and Young People. 30, 01, 28-34. doi: 10.7748/ncyp.2018.e1000

Correspondence

kathy.davis@thechildrenstrust.org.uk

Peer review

This article has been subject to open peer review and has been checked for plagiarism using automated software

Conflict of interest

None declared

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Received: 08 September 2017

Accepted: 17 October 2017

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