25th March 2024
We are delighted to share this Voices blog by Dr Jenna Charlton, Research Associate at Newcastle University, on the launch of a new website and resources to support health visiting teams to use the Early Language Identification Measure and Intervention (ELIM-I).
Dr Jenna Charlton, Research Associate at Newcastle University
Newcastle University is delighted to launch a new website and resources to support health visiting teams to use the Early Language Identification Measure and Intervention (ELIM-I) with families during the 2-2½ year Healthy Child Review.
What is the ELIM-I?
The ELIM-I is an early language measurement tool and intervention designed to support the identification of children’s speech, language, and communication needs, and provide tailored support to families. ELIM-I was developed for use in England as part of the universal 2-2½ year Healthy Child Programme Review offered to all children.
The ELIM-I measure includes a 50-item word list and practitioner observation.
Alongside the ELIM-I measure, a set of ELIM-I intervention resources have been developed to help practitioners provide tailored support to families.
ELIM-I aims to equip parents/carers to be responsive communicators and so support their child’s language development. Importantly, the intervention is tailored to offer different types and levels of support depending upon the individual needs of the family. Resources are available for universal support which include an information booklet for parents/carers called ‘Talking Together’. And for targeted support, a ‘How to be a Super Communicator’ booklet has been developed for parents/carers, alongside resources for practitioners to facilitate shared-goal setting to support speech, language and communication needs.
How was the ELIM-I developed?
The ELIM-I measure and intervention have been extensively co-designed with parents/carers, health visiting team members and education practitioners. ELIM-I development began in 2019 led by Newcastle University with funding from Public Health England (now the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities: OHID) and the Department for Education. Over the last year, the team at Newcastle University has co-produced the intervention resources in partnership with the Institute of Health Visiting and BBC Tiny Happy People. These resources are now available on the new ELIM-I website and include training videos to support practitioners to use the ELIM-I with families.
The ELIM-I website and resources
The new ELIM-I website launched in March 2024 and can be accessed at https://research.ncl.ac.uk/elim-i.
On the ELIM-I website, practitioners will find free-to-use resources including the ELIM-I measure, practitioner guides, intervention resources for practitioners and families (including links to BBC Tiny Happy People Super Communicator videos), training videos, as well as the project’s development reports and publications. The team behind ELIM-I also invites practitioners to join an ‘ELIM-I Community of Practice’ so they can share further ELIM-I work and hear about how practitioners are using the ELIM-I. Practitioners can sign up to this via the Keep in Touch form on the website.
The ELIM-I team hopes that practitioners enjoy using the new ELIM-I resources with families!
