Responding to the health and wellbeing needs of looked after children
Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust’s looked after children nurses at St Helen’s are specialists in responding to the health and wellbeing needs of children in care. With complex cases; some children are difficult to engage with and struggle with their wellbeing.
The team recognised the need for essential resources to promote engagement and further improve looked after children's health and wellbeing and have been able to provide a range of educational books, comfort bears, audio-visual resources and other items to help children explore sensitive issues and support foster carers and parents to understand teenage emotions.
The provision of these wellbeing resources has supported the team to further promote health and hygiene to children and young people on visits; to better support the understanding of puberty, emotional wellbeing and to help aid sleep in young children.
“the team have now got resources to give to Children and Young People to support health promotion and education” Joanna Donnellan, Team Manager
The service is for St Helens children (up until the age of 19) who are in care. A child who has been in the care of their local authority for more than 24 hours is known as a looked after child.
