Evaluating health checks

By offering annual health checks to people with learning disabilities a variety of health conditions were detected and treated. Health checks took place at a general practice surgery and were performed by a consultant psychiatrist in learning disability, a general practitioner (GP) and a community learning disability nurse. Thirty-five people attended full health checks at T1 (year 1) and T2 (a year later). Health status was quantified by measuring changes at T2. Contrary to other research findings, people with learning disabilities at this surgery consulted their GPs more frequently, were prescribed significantly more medication and were more likely to be prescribed medication than controls. At T1 33 (94 percent) people had a physical health problem that warranted intervention and 25 (71 percent) people had problems with their mental health. At T2 referrals and other interventions were reduced but still warranted extending the health checks into future years.

It’s hiding in plain sight. Poor people live less long than those who are rich,1 and people with a learning disability are more likely to die sooner than people without.2...

The deficits that create educational difficulties for individuals with learning disabilities (LD) also complicate their work lives. Employment counselors can build success in action plan creation and implementation by addressing each of the sources of self‐efficacy expectations.

Accessible summary Many people with learning disabilities have poor health and die younger compared to the general population so having regular health checks is very important. Sometimes doctors (general practitioners or GPs) and nurses do not know a person has a learning disability so cannot offer them a suitable health check. We asked GPs and a nurse for their views on ways they can find out who has learning disabilities and whether those ways of finding people work We found that the doctors and the nurses did not use ways to find out who has learning disabilities very often, but thought they were a good idea. Finding people with learning disabilities meant they could be offered support to attend appointments more easily.

and fertilisation rate (p=0001) but not for indica- tion (p=008) or age (p=09).The group who stopped treatment had a higher rate of total fertilisation failure, a lower fertilisation rate, and a generally more unfavourable indication for in vitro fertilisation.These results indicate that the assumption of the life table method is not met because patients who decide to stop treatment are likely to have less chance of conceiving by in vitro fertilisation than patients who continue.Few studies giving cumulative pregnancy rates after several cycles of in vitro fertilisation evaluate possible selection bias in the couples who continue treatment.To avoid too high expectations people should be aware of the possibility of such selection, particularly in a study with the objective "to provide reliable prognostic information for couples seeking assisted conception.

Health checks have beneficial effects on health outcomes in adults with intellectual disability; however, little is known about their effect on people with Down syndrome. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of receiving a health check on the unmet health needs of people with Down syndrome. A pooled analysis of three randomized trials conducted by the same Australian research team was undertaken. The trials used the same tools but differed by participant source (adults in 24 h supported accommodation, adults in private dwellings, adolescents living with parents). The intervention was a one-off health check, and the comparator was usual care. Among 216 participants, health actions were more likely to occur for those allocated to receive health checks, including increased hearing (odds ratio = 4.4; 95% confidence interval: 1.2, 16.4), vision (2.7; 1.1, 6.7), and thyroid (2.3; 1.3, 4.2) testing, and weight recording (4.7; 2.5, 8.8). Health checks conducted at the primary-care level produced substantially increased attention to the health needs of people with Down syndrome.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to report on trends in the provision of health checks for adults with learning disabilities over the period 2008/9‐2011/12.Design/methodology/approachAnalysis of data collected by the Information Centre for Health and Social Care from Primary Care Trusts in England.FindingsOver the four years the percentage of eligible adults receiving a health check has consistently increased and now stands at 53 percent. There remain marked variations across both Strategic Health Authority areas and Primary Care Trusts.Research limitations/implicationsThere remains considerable distance to travel before minimum standards of satisfactory performance in the provision of health checks are achieved nationally. It is important to consider possible obstacles to provision and how these can be addressed to improve uptake further.Originality/valueThe paper examines consistency of good and poor performance by local areas over time. It is clear that significant improvements are required in a number of strategic health authority and primary care trust areas if minimum standards are to be met.

Over the past two decades person-centred planning has been used to support people with learning disabilities to fulfil their personal aspirations. This has been backed up by national policies that have adopted the principles of person-centredness. However, widespread barriers to the implementation of person-centred planning for people with learning disabilities have been reported and the literature suggests that implementing person-centred planning is particularly challenging for people with more complex needs.This article discusses the findings of a literature review that explored the barriers and facilitators to the implementation of person-centred planning for people with learning disabilities and complex needs and their carers. The article identifies barriers such as limited funding and resources, challenges in accessing services and communication difficulties. It also describes initiatives that appear to have successfully engaged service users and their carers in person-centred planning. Further research is needed into the long-term effects of person-centred planning for people with learning disabilities and complex needs, notably to measure its effectiveness in enhancing their quality of life, while strategies to enable them to engage in person-centred planning need to be developed.

In pursuance of effective strategic activity plan preparation methods which could express institutions rational strategic planning model should be used. Extensive theoretic potential for institution strategic planning and sufficient abilities to use it together are guarantee for reaching goals of institution’s strategic planning. On the other hand, the question arises whether the use of theoretic potential allows to reach goals of rational strategic planning? The solution of our suggested complex tasks of institution’s rational strategic planning is to set the demand of the institution’s activity development and this demand fulfillment opportunities and weaknesses, to detect the directions and priorities of institution’s activity development, to chose the best ways and means to implement the institution’s activity development directions and priorities, to monitor the institution’s activity development means implementation. The analysis and evaluation of methods are purposeful to perform in the elements section of the complex of the planning tasks. Generally combinations of methods to solve institution’s strategic analysis tasks in special literature are recommended. The use of combinations of methods allows analyzing and evaluating different factors which influence development of institution’s activity, plus synthesizes the results. The use of theoretic potential for institution’s objective orientation setting creates preconditions to form the mission of institution, create the vision and set strategic goals. Theoretic potential for preparation and acceptance of institution’s strategic decisions are sufficient for decision of tasks of alternatives generation, formation of criteria for alternatives evaluation along with the criteria combination, alternatives analysis and evaluation, the best alternative choice. The use of the institution’s action plan implementation monitoring theoretic potential creates preconditions for analysis and evaluation of inside changes which happened due to action plan implementation, for setting connections between action plan implementation results and institution’s activity development indicators. The use of methods recommended in special literature doesn’t create preconditions to generate alternatives of rational action plan, i.e. to generate alternatives integrating the actions for increasement of the allocation of institutions resources, usage and development possibilities. In regard to complexity principle formation the criteria to evaluate the action plan alternatives and to form criteria combinations is problematical too. Moreover, suggested recommendations to analyse and evaluate action plan alternatives aren’t concretized to the level of quantitative analysis and evaluation of alternatives. So methods analysis and evaluation in context of tasks of institution rational strategic planning allow to identify strong and weak aspects of these tasks decision. Besides, it enables to make methods selections for institution strategic analysis, objective orientation setting, strategic decision preparation and acceptance, monitoring of actions plan implementation. Application of methods selections creates preconditions for decision of adequate strategic planning tasks. In pursuance to fill the essential gap in institution’s strategic planning directions for improvement of planning of institution’s strategic decisions implementation are established. Its implementation allows to reach all goals of rational strategic planning. Article in Lithuanian. Viešojo sektoriaus institucijų strateginio planavimo metodai: teorinis potencialas ir perspektyvos Santrauka. Išanalizuotas ir įvertintas viešojo sektoriaus institucijų strateginio planavimo uždavinių sprendimo teorinis potencialas. Esamą teorinį potencialą galima produktyviai naudoti šiems institucijų strateginio planavimo uždaviniams spręsti: strateginei analizei atlikti, tikslinei orientacijai nustatyti, strateginiams sprendimams rengti ir priimti, veiksmų plano įgyvendinimo monitoringui vykdyti. Išvardytiems institucijų strateginio planavimo uždaviniams spręsti sudaryti metodų rinkiniai ir pateiktos rekomendacijos jiems taikyti. Atsižvelgiant į metodų analizės rezultatus konstatuojama, kad silpniausia institucijų strateginio planavimo grandinės grandis yra strateginių sprendimų įgyvendinimo veiksmų plano rengimo metodinės priemonės. Siekiant pašalinti nustatytas metodinio pobūdžio spragas institucijų strateginio planavimo uždavinių sprendimo grandinėje, parengtos rekomendacijos strateginių sprendimų įgyvendinimo planavimo metodinėms priemonėms sukurti. Reikšminiai žodžiai: institucija, strateginis planavimas, metodai, analizė, taikymas.

BackgroundThe global concern over antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is gathering pace. Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are at the epicentre of this growing public health threat and governmental and healthcare organizations are at different stages of implementing action plans to tackle AMR. The South Indian state of Kerala was one of the first in India to implement strategies and prioritize activities to address this public health threat.StrategiesThrough a committed and collaborative effort from all healthcare related disciplines and its professional societies from both public and private sector, the Kerala Public Private Partnership (PPP) has been able to deliver a state-wide strategy to tackle AMR A multilevel strategic leadership model and a multilevel implementation approach that included developing state-wide antibiotic clinical guidelines, a revision of post-graduate and undergraduate medical curriculum, and a training program covering all general practitioners within the state the PPP proved to be a successful model for ensuring state-wide implementation of an AMR action plan. Collaborative work of multi-professional groups ensured co-design and development of disease based clinical treatment guidelines and state-wide infection prevention policy. Knowledge exchange though international and national platforms in the form of workshops for sharing of best practices is critical to success. Capacity building at both public and private institutions included addressing practical and local solutions to the barriers e.g. good antibiotic prescription practices from primary to tertiary care facility and infection prevention at all levels.ConclusionThrough 7 years of stakeholder engagement, lobbying with government, and driving change through co-development and implementation, the PPP successfully delivered an antimicrobial stewardship plan across the state. The roadmap for the implementation of the Kerala PPP strategic AMR plan can provide learning for other states and countries aiming to implement action plans for AMR.

The purpose of this study is to explore the possibilities of decentralization and departure from social policies, with an emphasis on employment policies, in the framework of an integrated strategy to tackle rising unemployment. In this context, this paper attempts to promote an integrated strategy for the "localization" of employment policies linked to productive reconstruction at micro-region level (i.e. Municipality of Volos) through the design and implementation of a Local Action Plan for Employment The study exemplifies the basic design requirement of an LAPE by exploring through a “sectoral research” the potential for job supply.

The implementation of corrective action plans in local government units (LGUs) takes place in the situation when they are unable to draw up a Multiannual Financial Forecast or the budget complying with the principles set out in Article 242-244 of the Public Finance Act (UFP). In the years 2012–2016, there was a six-fold increase in the number of LGUs which were obliged to implement these plans. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to assess their suitability as an actual barometer of the financial standing of local government units and propose an alternative solutions. The conducted analysis shows that the adopted legislative solutions regulating the implementation of corrective action plans are inconsistent and their effectiveness is not fully satisfactory. The paper suggests changes in current regulations and proposes alternative approach to the assessment of the financial position of local government units.

The Practical Diabetology (PD) course for multidisciplinary health care professionals (HCPs) is directed at building a team‐based approach to diabetes care delivery. Participants were asked to apply course learning to identify deficiencies in care delivery in their own settings and develop action plans to improve care and continuing self‐development.The objective of the study was to evaluate the short‐ and mid‐term impact of seven PD courses held between March 2011 and March 2012. Three methods of assessment were carried out: an end of course evaluation; pre‐ and post‐tests to assess gain in knowledge and change in attitudes; and self‐assessment of action plan implementation at six months to determine level of behaviour change.In total, 327 multidisciplinary HCPs participated in the seven PD courses. End of course evaluation indicated that the PD course was valued by course participants in terms of relevance of the topics and learning experience. A significant gain in knowledge and positive changes in attitudes were seen immediately post course in both groups. Of the 160 action plans prepared by participating teams (consisting of at least two members each – one medical and one non‐medical HCP), 68 (42.5%) were implemented. At six months, continued positive change was demonstrated through self‐assessment of action plan implementation.PD courses were appreciated by the participants; significant gain in knowledge and positive change in selected attitudes were seen in the short term. Implementation of action plans helped enhance participants’ competency for teamwork, problem solving and self‐development skills. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons.

This research is applied research that aims to develop and implement a character education action plan based on Total Quality Management (TQM) in the Pancasila student profile in Independent Curriculum in Kindergarten. This research is a qualitative descriptive study, data was collected through Focus Group Discussion (FGD), interviews, observation, and documentation. The results of the research show that TQM-based character education in Tunas Bangsa Kindergarten through the implementation of action plans in Pancasila student profile in the independent curriculum, implemented in learning projects and children's habits, has achieved guaranteed quality of learning. The results of the implementation show that children have achieved guaranteed quality graduates through learning project activities and familiarization with the supporting capacity of skilled teacher human resources, adequate facilities, and infrastructure as well as religious and moral development for adult children. Learning projects and habits are implemented for children to achieve the guaranteed quality of graduates, carrying out daily prayers, carrying out religious ritual practices, praying before and after studying, praying for parents and family, putting on and taking off your shoes, wearing uniform according to schedule, and complete tasks according to the deadline. For further research, it is necessary to carry out research that examines various implementations of character education based on culture or other learning models that attract children's interest and are more comprehensive. Keywords: action plan, early childhood, character education, total quality management

Nutrition and physical activity in early years settings: a qualitative assessment of an obesity prevention programme