IMPACT-LD V1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Increasing the uptake and quality of annual health checks in children and young people aged 14-17 years with a learning disability
IRAS ID
342771
Contact name
Hayley Crawford
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Warwick, Research & Impact Services
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 11 months, 29 days
Research summary
People with a learning disability experience poorer health, and more challenges accessing healthcare, than those without a learning disability. To try to improve this, the NHS wants people aged 14 and older to have a health check every year, at their general practices or where they live. Research shows that these health checks do improve health in people with a learning disability but fewer young people receive a health check compared to adults. We want to find out more about how health checks are carried out, whether there are things about them that are easy or difficult for people with a learning disability, and whether they are useful.
We will work with staff at six general practices to find out more about the way in which they do health checks. We will ask to see any documents they use to help them to do health checks, interview them to collect detailed information, and ask them whether health checks found any new health problems or a need for further tests, that were not known about before. We will collect information from children and young people with a learning disability, and parents and carers, to find out more about their previous experiences of going for a health check. We will run a focus group with people who are trying to improve health checks for children and young people to find out what they are doing and whether it is working. Finally, we will work with parents, special school staff and doctors to pull together all the information collected to identify ways to make health checks better for children and young people with a learning disability.
REC name
Wales REC 3
REC reference
25/WA/0301
Date of REC Opinion
27 Oct 2025
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion