Physical Health and Practical Support

Physical Fitness and Body Health
One You East Sussex
One You East Sussex is a lifestyle service to help you:
- stop smoking,
- drink less alcohol,
- lose weight, and
- move more.
As well as advice and information, they also offer free wellness programmes. These programmes aim to give you all the tools and support you need to start improving your health:
Managing Weight (NHS)
The main NHS website has lots of useful resources about:
- how to stay physically fit, and
- how to improve your bodies' health.
This includes:
- Understanding calories
- How to lose weight in a wheelchair
- Managing weight with a learning disability
- Healthy ways to gain weight
- Tips to help you lose weight
To find out more, visit the NHS web page on ‘Managing your weight'.
Parents can visit a separate web page if they are looking on behalf of their child. You can visit the NHS web page on ‘Children’s weight'.
You can also visit our websites' page on activities and events. This page highlights various ways that young people with SEND can stay active.
Please note, SEND is a short term for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.
General Practitioners and Doctors
Your General Practitioner (GP) is usually the first person you go to if you have a health issue. If you don't currently have a GP, you should visit the NHS website. This site lists GPs throughout East Sussex. It also highlights the services they provide:
Healthy Lifestyle Programme
NHS East Sussex Children provide a web page outlining a programme called HENRY. This programme is:
- for 4 to 12-year-olds
- an eight-week healthy lifestyle programme
You can find out more on the NHS East Sussex Children website:
Healthy Eating, Diet and Food
Eating healthy is as important as staying active. The NHS website has lots of useful pages with information on the topic of eating. This includes:
- How to eat a balanced diet
- Food guidelines and food labels
- Eating your 5-a-day
- Food types
- Digestive health
Visit the NHS website to find out more about healthy eating:
Eating Disorders
Beat are the UK’s eating disorder charity. They partner with the NHS to provide services for those with an eating disorder. This includes their parents, carers or families.
They also offer a national helpline. The helpline encourages and empowers people to get help. The sooner someone starts treatment, the greater their chance of recovery.
You can contact them online or by phone. Find out more by visiting the Beat website:
The Sussex Eating Disorder Service (SEDS) is a Sussex wide multi-disciplinary team. They support adults (aged 18 and over) with a diagnosed eating disorder. You can find out more by visiting their web page:
Food Banks, Community Food Hubs and Soup Kitchens
Food banks, shelters and drop-in centres provide food or refreshments for those in need. Community food hubs include community fridges and larders. They are places where people can share food including surplus from supermarkets.
Food banks and community food hubs may also supply:
- Toiletries (deodorant, toilet paper, shower gel, shaving gel, shampoo, soap, toothbrushes, tooth paste, hand wipes)
- Household items (laundry liquid detergent, laundry powder, washing up liquid)
- Feminine products (sanitary towels and tampons)
- Baby supplies (nappies, baby wipes and baby food)
Please visit our 1Space directory to find your local hub:
General Practitioners and Doctors
Your General Practitioner (GP) is usually the first person you go to if you have a health issue. If you don't currently have a GP, you should visit the NHS website. This site lists GPs throughout East Sussex. It also highlights the services they provide:
Healthy Lifestyle Programme
NHS East Sussex Children provide a web page outlining a programme called HENRY. This programme is:
- for 4 to 12-year-olds
- an eight-week healthy lifestyle programme
You can find out more on the NHS East Sussex Children website:

Dentists / Dentistry
Children and Young People with SEND may need a specialist dental service. This can be due to several factors. In the case of East Sussex, the NHS offer the Special Care Dental Service (SCDS). The SCDS provides treatment to children and young people who need special care dentistry relating to:
- Learning disabilities
- Autism
- Severe physical disabilities
- Severe and enduring mental illness, e.g. schizophrenia
- Complex medical history / disabilities
- Patients requiring domiciliary care who fulfil any of the above criteria
- Children who need extractions under general anaesthesia. This can be due to very young age or children that need more than one extraction
- Adults and children with a disability who need treatment under general anaesthesia
To learn more about the SCDS, please visit the NHS website:
- Special Care Dental Service | East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust
- Special Care Dental Service | NHS Foundation Trust
You can also visit the main NHS website, for more general information about dentists:
Learning Disability Register and Annual Health Checks
Learning Disability Register
The learning disability register is a list of individuals with a learning disability. This is kept by General Practitioner (GPs). Your doctor’s surgery will keep their own list.
Your doctor can use it to make sure you get the right support and in the right ways.
You, a carer or a family member will need to contact your doctor's surgery if you wish to join the register.
Benefits of joining the register include reasonable adjustments being made to GP appointments. Adjustments may include:
- Easy to read information being provided
- Longer appointment times or appointment times that are better suited to you
- You and your carers can be invited to get a free flu jab and COVID booster vaccines
- Access to free annual health checks
Find out more by visiting the main East Sussex County Council website:
Annual Health Checks
Annual health checks are for people with a learning disability who are over 14 years old.
Your doctor or nurse will carry out the annual health check. They take place once a year, every year after you turn 14. The aim is to help children and young people stay healthy. Your doctor or nurse will contact you by giving you a phone-call, or sending you a letter or email.
Please note, you need to be on the learning disability register to be invited to an annual health check.
During the check, a doctor or a nurse should ask you questions such as:
- what food you eat,
- whether you drink alcohol or smoke, and
- what exercise you do.
A doctor or nurse may also:
- Check things about your body, like your heart and blood pressure, your weight, height and hearing
- Ask about any medicines you are taking
- Check your blood and your wee
- Ask about how you are feeling
The doctor or nurse will provide a health action plan at the end of your annual health check. Your health action plan is specific to you and should tell you the things you need to do to keep healthy.
Find out more by visiting the main East Sussex County Council website:
Learning Disability Liaison Service
The NHS also offer a learning disability liaison service. The service is for those accessing hospital and community services. It aims to:
- identify any additional needs experienced by an individual, and
- plan reasonable adjustments.
A full-time learning disability nurse specialist can support:
- patients with a learning disability,
- their family,
- their carers,
- and hospital staff.
Find out more by visiting the NHS website:

Sexual Health, Sexuality and Relationships
Sexual Health and Relationships
Contact is a national charity. They have produced a guide that explains more about:
- Growing up
- Making friends
- Sex
- Developing relationships
All these topics are for those with a disability:
Contact have also developed a parent carer guide. This guide highlights how they can support young people transition into adulthood:
NHS East Sussex Children includes a web page with useful sexual health information. The web page is for children and young people:
Sexuality and Gender Identity
Childline have a section on their website that shares information and advice about:
- Children and young people's sexuality,
- Gender identity, and
- Coming out.
Visit the Childline website to find out more:
Allsorts Youth Project are a local charity. They listen to, connect and support children and young people under 26 who are:
- Lesbian
- Gay
- Bisexual
- Trans, or
- Exploring their sexual orientation and/or gender identity (LGBT+)
They also offer support to their families:
NHS East Sussex Children has web pages with useful information about sexuality and gender identity:
Online Safety
National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NPSCC) are a charity. They have a web page that offers resources for children accessing the internet. The page offers advice to parents and carers. The information can also prove useful for children and young people with SEND. It aims to help them to navigate online by themselves:
Childline also provide information relating to online safety. This aims to have useful insight for both children and young people when using the internet:

Personal Assistants
Some young people may need a personal assistant (PA). PA's can assist with daily personal or business-related tasks.
The East Sussex 1Space directory lists hundreds of personal assistants around the county. You can use the filters on the directory to find the most suitable PA for your needs. This may include PA's that specialise in helping people with a specific type of SEND:
Please note, each PA is likely to be a paid-for service. Please contact the individual PA to find out about costs.
Additional Help and Support
There are lots of services throughout East Sussex and online that seek to help children, young people and their families with physical health and practical support.
You can visit our online directory, hosted on East Sussex 1Space. The directory lists over lots of local and online services that cover lots of topics about physical health.
Visit our directory to find the service most suitable for you:
Please note: some of these services only operate in certain areas of East Sussex. Please visit their websites to find out more.
Glossary of East Sussex SEND Terms
We explain some of the terms used on this website on our page, Glossary of East Sussex SEND Terms.