Lancashire Comprehensive Health Assessment Tool (CHAT) – Lancashire Child and Youth Justice Service
Summary:
Lancashire Child and Youth Justice Service have created a user-friendly Comprehensive Health Assessment Tool (CHAT) that allows for exploration of a child’s health needs.
Description:
There is increasing recognition of the crucial role of health within a young person’s life, and the impact good health and well-being has on the life course outcomes of vulnerable young people who are known to youth justice services.
A standardised national Comprehensive Health Assessment Tool (CHAT) was introduced to ensure that health needs of all young people are identified and addressed.
A local Lancashire Comprehensive Health Assessment Tool (Lancashire CHAT) as well as accompanying guidance has been developed based on the key themes, subjects and relevant health issues highlighted within the national CHAT, combined with the locally collated data and documented evidence of the health issues that affect this specific population of young people in Lancashire. It is a short, user-friendly document that can also be used as an aide-memoire during a therapeutic health conversation/ assessment with young people. It allows for exploration, using professional judgement, of the young person’s individual health issues and diverse needs. The young person can lead the direction of the conversation and have a chance to voice their concerns in an effective way. This has led to a standardised tool that also allows the health practitioner to take account of the diverse needs of each young person – this helps to ensure a more cost-effective, reliable and valid quality health-needs assessment.
Contact:
| Youth Justice Service: | Lancashire Child and Youth Justice Service |
| Name: | Julie Cross |
| Email: | Julie.Cross@lancashire.gov.uk |