We are making good progress with the development of NHS Life Checks for the following target audiences—early years, adolescents and mid-life.
Early years
The early years Life Check is being developed as an integral part of the child health promotion programme. It will focus on the health and development needs of the child during their first year of life, but will also encompass parental health issues that could affect the well-being of the child. The current work programme is focused on scoping and agreeing the core content of the early years assessment, in consultation with key stakeholders and experts.
Mid-life
We are also defining and scoping the core content of the mid-life Life Check. We have initiated a user consultation programme to ascertain the views of a wide range of users on the Life Check’s content and format. We are continuing to review the evidence base, gather examples of best practice and obtain input from key stakeholders and experts to determine the precise content of the assessment.
We anticipate piloting and evaluating these two life checks in the second half of 2007.
Adolescence
We will be launching the adolescent Life Check pilots in February 2007. Teen Life Check is an online interactive tool, which will be hosted on the Department for Education and Skills Need2Know website for the duration of the six-month pilot. Teen Life Check will be promoted and evaluated in the four adolescent health demonstration sites, in Bolton, Hackney, Northumberland and Portsmouth, and on the Teenage Health Freak website.