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Spotlights:
School Nursing

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ChatHealth

ChatHealth in school nursing was first piloted in 2013 in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland as a safe and secure way to contact school nurses via text messaging.

Since then, school nursing messaging services have been widely adopted by school nursing services throughout the UK –  77%  in England, 100% in Northern Ireland, 71% in Wales and 7% in Scotland. Meaning that more than 2.9 million young people and the parents and carers of 3 million children aged 0-19 can reach school nurses via ChatHealth.

During 2023-24, the number of messaging conversations with parents increased by 116%, which demonstrates how this has improved access for families.

Download ChatHealth product guide
Visit ChatHealth website

  • Enabling young people (typically aged 11-19) to contact their local school nursing team via ChatHealth messaging.
  • Offering confidential advice and support about any aspect of their physical or emotional health.
  • Young people appreciate that it’s anonymous, non-judgemental and a helpful way to seek advice.

 

Impacts between April 2023 and March 2024:

Number of Contacts

9,925

messaging conversations between young people and school nurses

(2023-24)

Top Reasons for Contact

  • Emotional health and wellbeing
  • Sexual health and relationships
  • Physical health
(2023-24)

Busiest Time for Contact

On Mondays and Tuesdays
between 14:00 – 16:00

(2023-24)

Service User Experience

73%

of young people who used ChatHealth said their conversation helped them

(2023-24)

Staff User Experience

79%

of school nurses surveyed said they would recommend the use of ChatHealth to other health professionals.

(2023-24)

Feedback from a Young Person

“I’ve never really been the person to open up a lot but ChatHealth has really helped me and shown that help is out there.”

(2023-24)

Feedback from a School Nurse

“It is a very valuable service for young people, especially when young people have difficulty in engaging face-to-face or do not want to give their personal details initially.”

(2023-24)

Evidence

Case study on Kent School Health’s Snapchat campaign to increase awareness with young people

  • Enabling parents and carers of school-aged children (aged 5-19) to contact their local school nursing team via ChatHealth messaging.
  • Offering confidential advice and support about any aspect of their child’s physical or emotional health.
  • Parents of school-aged children say they had a quick response from school nurses and received helpful and supportive advice.

 

Impacts between April 2023 and March 2024:

Number of Contacts

4,934

messaging conversations between parents and carers of 5-19 year olds and school nurses

(2023-24)

Number of Contacts

43,244

messaging conversations with parents and carers of 0-19 year olds and school nurses/health visitors

(2023-24)

Top Reasons for Contact

  • Continence
  • Emotional health & wellbeing
  • Understanding behaviour
(2023-24)

Busiest Times for Contact

On Mondays and Wednesdays
between 9:00 – 11:00

(2023-24)

Service User Experience

84%

of parents and carers of school-aged children who used ChatHealth said their conversation helped them .

(2023-24)

What Parents Say

“There’s so much out there it’s difficult to know how to get help. It is really useful to be able to contact school nurses via text at a time that’s convenient.”

(2023-24)

What School Nurses Say

“The text messaging service provides service users a quick and easy way to receive advice and support from the Health Visiting and School Nursing teams and is much quicker than waiting for a call back from Duty.”

(2023-24)

Evidence

BBC Report on the launch of ChatHealth in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly in January 2024.

(2023-24)

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HealthWebsites

Health for Kids and Health for Teens are part of our suite of HealthWebsites, along Health for Under 5s. Co-designed with service users, these award-winning health information and promotion websites provide age-appropriate health and wellbeing information to children, teenagers and their parents and carers.

All content has been produced by school nurses and other health and wellbeing experts. Localised information is delivered in partnership with 13 NHS providers across the UK, Each partner has a Local Area section, which includes local information, news and support services.

Download Health Websites product guide
Visit Health for Kids website
Visit Health for Teens website

Health for Kids provides a fun way for primary school aged children to learn about their health.

The Grown-Ups area offers health advice, news and support services to guide parents and carers through their child’s primary school years.

Impacts between April 2023 and March 2024:

Number of Local Areas

13

Local Areas
delivered by NHS providers

(2023-24)

Most Visited Pages

  1. Game: Poop Shooter
  2. Game: Shine Time
  3. Game: Micro Doctor
(2023-24)

Service User Experience

81%

of Health for Kids visitors said the information helped them

(2023-24)

Where Visitors Came From

  • Search engines
  • School learning platforms
  • NHS provider websites
(2023-24)

Health for Teens provides an engaging way for young people aged 11-19 to learn about their health.

Impacts between April 2023 and March 2024:

Number of Local Areas

17

Local Areas
delivered by NHS partners

(2023-24)

Most Visited Pages

  1. Friendship quiz: What Kind of Friend Are You?
  2. Health article: 7 Most Common Medical Emergencies
  3. Nutrition & Diet article: Protein: Just the Facts
(2023-24)

Service User Experience

73%

Health for Teens visitors said the information helped them

(2023-24)

Where Visitors Came From

  • Search engines
  • NHS website
  • School learning platforms
(2023-24)

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HealthForms

HealthForms is an online health needs assessment tool for improving service user outcomes.

In 2021-2022, we supported the roll out of HealthForms questionnaires by forward-thinking school nursing teams at NHS Trusts in various areas across England, including Shropshire, Coventry, Solihull, Nottinghamshire and Plymouth.

The school health questionnaires are intended to be completed by parents and carers of children starting school in the Reception year (EYFS) and by young people transitioning to or at Secondary School, according to how it’s locally commissioned.

In recent evaluation of the online health and wellbeing screening programme in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland, it was found that young people and professional stakeholders respond positively to digital health contacts. For more information about the research, look at this infographic and watch this video.

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HealthForms is used by school nursing teams to digitise school health questionnaire processes to:

  • Provide an efficient and paper-free way to assess health needs
  • Allow sensitive information to be disclosed confidentially
  • Promote health information and local support services

Number of Responses

11,280

questionnaire responses received in 2021-2022

Number of Questionnaires

16

questionnaire forms used in schools in 2022-2023 academic year

What Commissioners Say

“It has managed to pick up some quite complex needs and cases. Without that contact, those cases might not have been picked up.”

What Schools Say

“The relationship that we’ve had between our school nurse service and us as a school has improved through this process.”

Evidence

Go to the NIHR website to find research to evaluate digital health contacts and published journal papers

What School Nurses Say

“I’ve picked up children that have had no support in the past, not even told their parents, schools or anybody. So, we are picking up young people that otherwise would have continued to escalate further.”

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