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The new video guides are an addition to a set of existing guides that aim to help autistic people understand and prepare for different medical scenarios
“We really want to increase the take up of appointments by autistic and learning disability adults in all sorts of health settings, and to increase the understanding by professionals of their differing needs. By creating a portfolio of films, we hope that both patients and professionals will be able to benefit, and we are very keen to ensure that awareness and use of the films spreads as widely as possible.”
New video guides will be made available to help people with autism prepare for health appointments.
The Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes Integrated Care Board (ICB) has received funding to design the materials, which will focus on people attending appointments with maternity services or GP practices.
The publication of the ICB’s learning disability and autism strategy in autumn 2023 found that adults with autism or learning disabilities were less likely to attend screening appointments. To understand the barriers preventing autistic people from attending appointments, the charity Autism Bedfordshire talked with autistic adults and clinicians before creating an initial set of videos, called Breaking Barriers, which covered the following scenarios:
Autism Bedfordshire will also work with autistic people and clinicians to produce the new video guides.
Julia Robson, inequalities programme lead at Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes ICB, said: “We know that autistic people are less likely to come forward for screening appointments, which can in some cases be life-saving.
“Although each individual is different, autistic people are often reluctant to put themselves into situations where they don’t know what will happen to them. That applies not just in health services, but in other parts of life too.
“Over the course of the next 12 months, we will be investing over £78,000 in this set of films, which will explain what happens at different types of health setting, show how the room may be set out and, in some less invasive examples, include footage of the health appointment itself.
“We hope that this model will also work for other groups of patients who are less likely to attend certain types of appointment. Autism Bedfordshire has a very strong track record of working with autistic people, their families and carers, and I am really looking forward to seeing the final products. We expect they will literally save lives.”
Heather Wildsmith, projects development manager at Autism Bedfordshire, said:
“We have already created a small number of videos for autistic and learning disability adults which are intended to remove the anxiety which can accompany an appointment. We have been asked by autistic people if we could create more content for different health specialties, so we know there is a need for them.”
Wildsmith said there were also plans to create a set of videos of clinicians talking about how they work with autistic and learning disability adults, designed to help health workers who feel they don’t know how to work with those patients.
“We really want to increase the take up of appointments by autistic and learning disability adults in all sorts of health settings, and to increase the understanding by professionals of their differing needs,” she said. “By creating a portfolio of films, we hope that both patients and professionals will be able to benefit, and we are very keen to ensure that awareness and use of the films spreads as widely as possible.”
Wildsmith quoted an autistic patient about their experience of working on the original videos: “Being a part of this project gave me the confidence to attend a breast screening appointment for the first time in many years. With a little help from the project team I was able to find where I needed to go and the staff were nice. I will attend again.”
FCC Insight
Although this is a small-scale, local project, the idea of producing video guides to help people with autism prepare for medical appointments is a valuable one. We know that autistic people are less likely to attend vital screening appointments and may struggle with the uncertainty and anxiety of certain medical situations. Videos like these could help save lives, and we would like to see other ICBs learn from them and produce their own materials aimed at people with neurodiverse conditions and learning disabilities.