Tag: Birmingham Community Healthcare Trust

Life can be stressful enough for children and young people within the care system without being passed from pillar to post when it comes to healthcare. The Looked After Children’s Nursing Service provides a ‘one-stop shop’ for health screening and support.

I worked with pupils at Firsbrook School in Quinton to produce a short animation to illustrate what happens at an annual check up. The young people, themselves classed as ‘Looked After Children’, worked with their Art teacher, Richard Upton and myself to create the animation. This involved discussing their own apprehensions and experiences of accessing health care and advice. This formed the basis of the script which we developed into a stop frame animation, using characters the group developed themselves.

The young people are given annual check ups by a specialist team of nurses, and they also have the opportunity to discuss health issues with a specialist paediatrician. This means that their physical and mental health can be monitored and managed, and support can be offered where needed. Files are kept in one place and the young person will usually see the same person each year.

This animation formed part of a further film, based on interviews with nurses, doctors and healthcare assistants within the Looked After Children’s Health Team. This explains in some details what children and young people can expect.

Daisy Hale, Elliot Sturman did a sterling acting job undergoing a mock check, and Jennifer Smith did a fantastic turn as a Social Worker (maybe a new career beckons?). Huge thanks to everyone within the team was brave enough to go in front of the camera! Thanks also to everyone at Firsbrook for making me feel so welcome – staff and pupils alike.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a condition which is hotly debated and widely misunderstood. Where is the line between a ‘spirited’ or ‘badly behaved’ child and a child suffering from ADHD? How can you tell? Fortunately in Birmingham there is a service to which children can be referred in order to try and determine exactly that.

I was commissioned by Birmingham Community Healthcare Trust to develop a short film to outline what the ADHD Nurse Led Service does and to explain to parents, carers, school staff and school nurses how referrals can be made and how the assessment is conducted.

1,000 DVDs were produced back in January (yes, I am incredibly behind in my blogging!), which are now being circulated in schools. This is an important tool in aiding understanding of the condition and compliments the awareness-raising that the ADHD Nurse Led Service is already doing.

The film was produced in close collaboration with the ADHD team – Kim, Chris and Mel. However, the real star of the show is Scrabble, Kim’s Springer Spaniel, who showed real professionalism in demonstrating some of the key symptoms of ADHD!

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My film camera and edit suite are tools, community resources to be used. The main limit on how they are used is our imagination. So, if you have an idea for a project, however wacky, however ambitious, however big or small, please get in touch and let’s make it happen!