The importance of Annual Health Checks

Funding

In December 2023 we received funding from Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board (BNSSG ICB) to carry out a four month pilot project. The aim of this project was to raise awareness of annual health checks for people with a learning disability from global majority communities.

We were awarded this funding following on from the publication of two reports. The first was our research in 2021. This looked at people’s experience of accessing health appointments who were autistic or had a learning disability from global majority communities.

In 2023 The Race Equality Foundation published the We Deserve Better Report. This highlighted that the average age of death for people with a learning disability who are from an ethnic minority is 34 years, just over half the life expectancy of white counterparts, at 62 years of age.

Our work

The funding allowed us to employ a project coordinator and two health navigators; one who spoke Somali and another who spoke Punjabi. This allowed us to provide bespoke support to families across Bristol.

The project also focused on four strands:

  1. Supporting people to go on to the the learning disability register
  2. Supporting people from the age of 14 to have their annual health check
  3. Supporting people to follow through on their health action plan
  4. Supporting people to register with their GP (if they did not have one)

To help people for whom English was not their first language, we produced easy read leaflets in Arabic, English, Polish, Somali and Urdu:

To help raise awareness, we visited schools, went to health events and supported families we already worked with who had a child with a learning disability to go on the register and have their health checks.

Learning Disability Mortality Review Board

We shared our findings with the Learning Disability Mortality Review Board (LeDeR) and these were published in the LeDeR Annual Report for 2023/24.

Getting support for your loved one

In 2024 we were awarded funding for two years by BNSSG ICB to continue with this work.

If you or your loved one has a learning disability, we can help by:

  • Breaking down language barriers – explaining and translating the Annual Health Check in Polish, Punjabi, Somali, and Urdu, so nothing gets lost in translation.
  • Getting registered – helping you join your GP’s Learning Disability Register, which is the first step to accessing the right healthcare.
  • Making it easier – supporting with booking appointments, reminding you when it’s time and even coming along to the Annual Health Check if needed.
  • Ongoing support – helping you understand and follow your Health Action Plan, so you feel confident about next steps.

We know that healthcare can feel confusing or overwhelming sometimes, but you don’t have to go through it alone.

Watch our informative video to learn more about why Annual Health Checks matter and how we can support you.

Thank you

Thank you to our funders Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board, as well as to The Therapeutic Media Company for filming the video and to one of our mums who agreed to take part in the video.