Adults with learning disabilities, people with a mental health condition, and women in black minority ethnic groups.
Dr Gemma Pearce and colleagues at Coventry University’s Centre for Technology Enabled Health Research have recently completed a novel piece of research funded by the Public Health department of Coventry City Council to inform their work to support people having NHS health checks in Coventry.
The NHS health checks are for adults in England aged 40-74 (or 18+ years old for adults with learning disability), that do not already have a pre-existing condition. The aim is to keep people well for longer. A person at a NHS health check is asked questions and has some tests to find out about their current health and health risk, with the aim of preventing or delaying the onset of long term conditions, such as diabetes, stroke, heart and kidney disease. There is a recent national campaign to increase the amount of people having NHS health checks, but it is recognised that this needs to be tailored to the individual needs of the local communities and vulnerable groups.
This unique piece of research asked the people having the NHS health checks in Coventry to find out their opinions about what was working and what could be improved. This research focussed on three specific groups: adults with learning disabilities, people who have been diagnosed with a mental health condition, and women in black minority ethnic groups. Further information was needed to find out about the specific experiences of NHS health checks for these groups of people, and what they found helped and hindered their access to the NHS health checks.
The report for this research will be coming out soon. For further information here are some useful links on twitter and websites below:
To follow the progress of this and other related public health / health psychology / behaviour change work on Twitter, follow Gemma at @GemmaSPearce or the Centre for Technology Enabled Health Research at @CovUni_CTEHR.
To find out more information about NHS health checks in Coventry, search the hashtags #CovHealthChecks or #NHShealthchecks.
Coventry City Council’s NHS health checks information website:
http://www.coventry.gov.uk/info/2000882/health_checks/2078/free_nhs_health_check
NHS health checks conference in London February 2014 summary website
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