Project overview
Background:
People with a learning disability can have more health problems and may not live as long as people without a learning disability. GP surgeries offer people a health check each year to find out about any health problems and to make a plan to help them keep healthy. However, these checks vary between GP surgeries, and people with a learning disability report mixed experiences. Carers often accompany people to appointments, but they can be unsure of their role and how they should support people with a learning disability to manage their health afterwards.
Aims:
To develop a list of things that GP practice staff and carers can do to help people with a learning disability understand and use their health action plan.
Research plan:
To find out how GP surgeries carry out health checks and make a health action plan I will ask 20-25 GPs and other staff to take part in an interview.
To find out what people with a learning disability and their carers think about health checks and health action plans I will ask 8-10 pairs (person with a learning disability and their carer) to take part in an interview together after a recent health check and again 3 months later.
I will bring together groups of people, including people with a learning disability, carers, staff from GP practices and researchers, to meet and talk about the results from the interviews.
Outcomes and dissemination:
We will make a list of recommendations that will be given to GP practices to help improve health action plans. We will also make a short film to tell people with a learning disability, their families and carers about the results.
Patient and public involvement (PPI):
This application has been developed after talking to people at the Minstead Trust, and NHS staff working to improve health checks in GP surgeries. During the project I will bring together 3-5 people with a learning disability and their carer/supporters (PPI group), to work with the research team to make sure that the project meets the needs of people with a learning disability.
People with a learning disability can have more health problems and may not live as long as people without a learning disability. GP surgeries offer people a health check each year to find out about any health problems and to make a plan to help them keep healthy. However, these checks vary between GP surgeries, and people with a learning disability report mixed experiences. Carers often accompany people to appointments, but they can be unsure of their role and how they should support people with a learning disability to manage their health afterwards.
Aims:
To develop a list of things that GP practice staff and carers can do to help people with a learning disability understand and use their health action plan.
Research plan:
To find out how GP surgeries carry out health checks and make a health action plan I will ask 20-25 GPs and other staff to take part in an interview.
To find out what people with a learning disability and their carers think about health checks and health action plans I will ask 8-10 pairs (person with a learning disability and their carer) to take part in an interview together after a recent health check and again 3 months later.
I will bring together groups of people, including people with a learning disability, carers, staff from GP practices and researchers, to meet and talk about the results from the interviews.
Outcomes and dissemination:
We will make a list of recommendations that will be given to GP practices to help improve health action plans. We will also make a short film to tell people with a learning disability, their families and carers about the results.
Patient and public involvement (PPI):
This application has been developed after talking to people at the Minstead Trust, and NHS staff working to improve health checks in GP surgeries. During the project I will bring together 3-5 people with a learning disability and their carer/supporters (PPI group), to work with the research team to make sure that the project meets the needs of people with a learning disability.
Staff
Lead researchers
