Monkey’s health service: an evaluation of the implementation of resources designed to support the learning of primary school-aged children in England about healthy lifestyles and NHS services

Abstract

The National Health Service Institute for Innovation and Improvement was established to help the NHS to improve healthcare by rapidly developing and disseminating knowledge and evidence about new ways of working. One example is the Emergency and Urgent Care Pathway for Children and Young People which focused on providing high quality and safe healthcare for children and young people requiring urgent or emergency treatment for the most common illnesses and injuries. Monkey's Guide to Healthy Living and NHS Services was developed to increase awareness of acute health services in primary school-aged children. This free resource was posted to every primary school in England. A process and impact evaluation was undertaken to explore how the resource was being utilized during 2013-2014. A small number of in-depth case studies were developed involving classroom-based observations and teacher interviews along with a much larger online survey which was emailed to all primary schools in England. On the whole, the resource was viewed as useful, engaging, and informative; with children, teachers, and other professionals particularly valuing the monkey puppet, video clips, and teacher resources. The National Evaluation highlighted that most respondents integrated the materials into the curriculum, used them as a one-off lesson, or developed their own innovative and strategic approaches to make the best use of the resources; almost two-thirds of schools who responded to the survey felt the resources led to pupils knowing about the available NHS services and healthy lifestyles; over half felt pupils were now more informed about the most appropriate services to use.

Enabling Young Service Users to Provide Feedback on their Experience: An Evaluation of the Pilot Implementation of Children and Young People Accessible Friends and Family Test in General and Dental Practices in NHS England South (South Central)

“…Resources used in the pilot were developed by Monkeywellbeing who provide high quality resources to enable children and young people to learn about the NHS and the wide range of services available to them. The resources focus on the exploits of a central character called Monkey whose ability to engage children across the country has already been wellestablished (Medforth, et al, 2015). Monkey has been incorporated into versions of the CYPFFT specifically designed for use in dental and general practices.…”