Making Health Checks Better

People with a learning disability and autistic people are more likely to experience physical and mental health conditions.  However, they often find it difficult to access the healthcare that they need.  This can mean health conditions are missed or not treated, leading to poorer health outcomes. 

Annual health checks can help by finding health conditions early and improving health, wellbeing and quality of life.  These checks are currently offered to people aged 14 and over with a learning disability, although availability varies across the UK, and to some autistic people.

This NIHR-funded study aims to understand how annual health checks can be improved so they work better for people with a learning disability and autistic people, ultimately improving their health and wellbeing.

 

 

This study involves 5 stages:

Stage 1

Review of the health checks literature (January 2025-February 2026) - Completed

Stage 2

Explore experiences of annual health checks (October 2025-August 2026) - Current

Stage 3

Survey on important elements of health checks (February 2026-October 2026) - Current

Stage 4

Co-produce a clinical implementation framework (September 2026-May 2027)

Stage 5

Test the health checks clinical implementation framework (May 2027-February 2028)