The health visiting service is a universal early intervention and prevention service designed to promote family wellbeing, stability and good physical health.
These objectives are achieved through a range of assessments including physical, emotional and social development at defined intervals and by promoting positive parenting and health education campaigns such as smoking cessation, obesity prevention, breastfeeding and accident reduction.
Health visitors work to the following core programme:
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Caseloads of children aged from birth to five years
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Primary home visit following the birth of a child and home visiting
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New to area visit
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Child health promotion
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Safeguarding children
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Delivering the Healthy Child Programme
Who is it for?
The universal service is aimed at all children and their carers to provide advice and support during the early years in order to promote good health and enable children to achieve optimum health and well being. A targeted service specifically supports children and families with additional needs and comprises of various interventions designed to monitor, support and promote the health of children under five, and their carers, and to intervene to protect vulnerable children and adults, including instigation of safeguarding and child protection procedures.
Who delivers it?
The service is delivered by qualified health visitors, community staff nurses, nursery nurses, community health/ link workers and support staff.
