A passport to clearer communication for our pupils…

At the start of this year, Dysart School was one of two special schools selected to participate in a research trial conducted by King’s College London. Throughout the autumn term, staff from KCL worked with pupils, families and staff at both Dysart and Queensmill School to investigate whether My Medication Passport, a communication tool developed for elderly and vulnerable people, might improve communication between families, healthcare professionals and school staff around pupils’ often complex medicine regimes.

Leigh Edser, Principal of Dysart school said ‘we were thrilled to be asked to be involved in such a new project for pupils with complex medical and health needs within schools.  As a school we have found the passport to be of great benefit, in particular increasing the close partnership working we have with our families.  Any way that we are able to improve communication with our families for the benefit of our pupils is always greatly received, and this is one such initiative’.

Headlines from the completed study include:

• Findings cohere with the World Health Organisation’s WHO mission to reduce medicines-related risk at ‘transitions (or transfer) of care’.
• This appears to be the first study of its kind in the medical literature.
• My Medication Passport is one of a number of medicines-related tools that could facilitate communication between home and school regarding what medicines are taken at home compared with the school record, and any challenges that families may face in administering medicines at home.

Suzanna Challenger, Head of Research & Policy Development at OHC&AT, said “As a leading specialist organisation and one that is proudly evidence-led, OHC&AT seeks to improve the lives of our pupils and students through engagement with the research community. We’re delighted that staff at Dysart had the opportunity to share their experience and expertise with external partners, and we hope that these findings will be taken forward on a larger scale.”

You can read more about the project here.