6886 Taking primary care services to refugee children: the impact of delivering a health engagement session in the community for the local refugee population

Objectives To organise and deliver a half-day session to the local refugee community, during which a number of basic primary care services are accessible to them in order to increase both health engagement and health literacy in this population. The services available include flu vaccines for both children and parents, baby weight checks, as well as blood pressure, height and liver screening for the adults. Methods The session was created and planned by a local GP practice, in partnership with a nearby hotel that was housing a group of refugees, a volunteer-led refugee cooking group and the integrated paediatrics team from the local hospital. The GP surgery created a poster to promote the event which was sent to the hotel and subsequently distributed amongst the refugees to spread awareness of the event. The GPs from the practice delivered the medical services on the day. The paediatric team set up activities to entertain the children, which included some discussions and activities with the aim of educating them about the NHS services that are available to them, as well as when and how to access them. The volunteer-led cooking group prepared lunch in the kitchen facilities for everyone who attended. During the session the details of all those who took up any of the health services were recorded, and these numbers have been used to measure the impact of the session. Results During the course of the morning 17 children had their flu vaccine – who would otherwise not have accessed this service – and 9 baby weight checks were carried out. A total of 27 children took part in the activities run by members of the paediatrics team, amongst which 10 of them engaged in the discussion and colouring activities based around teaching them which health service (i.e. A&E/999, GP or 111) would be most appropriate for them in various situations. Conclusion A significant number of refugee children and their parents were reached by this session, resulting in many of them having important flu vaccines in addition to the vast benefits of simply being in a room with medical staff from whom they could seek other health advice. Introduction of more sessions like this with a multi-faceted approach to improve not only vaccine rates and healthcare engagement, but also health literacy and education has the potential to be invaluable in the drive to reach these often-neglected communities.