A free and fun health event for families with children who have asthma, constipation, eczema, or epilepsy (and helping keep the kids entertained during half term!).
The Children & Young People’s Health Partnership (CYPHP) and Healthwatch Lambeth joined forces on Wednesday 30th May to provide parents and carers with a free interactive and practical event at the Stockwell Children’s Centre.
The event offered parents and carers with children who have asthma, constipation, eczema, or epilepsy the opportunity to speak with specialist asthma and epilepsy nurses, children’s primary care nurses, and children’s pharmacists, and to be able to ask questions about each condition, and learn practical tips about managing their child’s condition.
For example, families and children learned:
• How to recognise and manage their symptoms.
• When to seek help, and how to recognise danger signs or red flags.
• How to take care of their eczema skin in the spring compared with the summer.
• How much eczema cream to apply – the fingertip measure.
• How to check their child’s asthma inhaler technique.
• How to clean and take care of their asthma inhaler spacers.
• About increasing fibre in their diet and the amount of water they drink, to prevent and treat constipation.
• About how to encourage kids to have a good toilet routine - make toilet time private, fun and relaxing.
• How medications work.
It was exciting to see children really engaging with health education activities, and parents and carers meeting others who also share similar experiences.
As well as receiving practical support and having time to share knowledge and ideas, parents and carers also completed the CYPHP Health Checks and received a condition-specific Health Support Pack - a tailored self-management resource that can be used as a reminder of their learning during the day.
Parents and carers were also able to speak to a variety of other organisations about additional sources of community support. Organisations included Healthwatch Lambeth, a Vitamin D specialist from Evelina London, advocacy services from POHWER, and employment and training advice provided by Stockwell Children’s Centre.
To find out more about CYPHP, the programme and our events, you can visit www.cyphp.org.
To see more of the latest news from CYPHP, please click here.