More details about getting the most from Annual Health Checks

Annual health checks are one of the most important aspects of tackling health inequality; they can help keep track of someone’s health and spot any potentially serious issues early on.

Everyone over the age of 14, who is registered on the Learning Disability Register, should be offered an annual health check each year. You must encourage your patients to join the register and support them to make the most out of their annual health checks.

Your quick 10 step guide for a great annual health check:

1. Book at least an hour appointment, so you have plenty of time.
2. Get to know your patient and their support team.
3. Ask if they have a Health Action Plan and see a copy in advance.
4. Find out what reasonable adjustments will help them and do your best to implement them.
5. Make all information available in an accessible (possibly easy read) format if your patient will benefit from this.
6. Let your patient and support team know what you will ask in advance so they can get the right information, they might have bowel movement logs for example.
7. Let your patient and their support team know what tests and exams to expect so they have plenty of time to prepare.
8. Put your patient at ease by discussing topics they’re interested in and explaining what is happening throughout the appointment.
9. Take your time; don’t rush yourself or them.
10. Explain what is happening and why you are doing it or asking them this throughout the appointment.

These are all fairly quick things to implement and there are resources across the Dimensions Health Campaign webpages to help you with this.

Remember: a learning disability or autism isn’t the cause of any other physical or mental health problems.