DHSC: OHID: Child Development Tools

In England, every child is offered a developmental review with a health visitor at age 2/ 2 ½. In this review, a tool is used to measure multiple domains of development and provide a score. The current tool assesses communication, gross motor skills, fine motor skills, problem solving and personal-social development. Currently, the proportion of children obtaining a good level of development overall and for each domain of child development is recorded and tracked over time at a population level. This data underpins a summary of health metrics published by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (Child and Maternal Health - Data - OHID (phe.org.uk)).

The aim of this market engagement is to identify available tools for measuring child development at age 2/ 2 ½ in England. We will consider tools which meet the following feasibility criteria.

Tools must:

Assess development in children aged 2/ 2 ½

Be capable of providing separate scores for different domains of child development, in addition to an overall score

Be available for use in British English

Be completed and scored in under 30 minutes

Be capable of being administered by an individual without specific qualifications

Only require equipment which is likely to be easy to access, such as a ball, small toy, pen and paper, or utensils for eating food.

It is advantageous if the tool:

Has the capacity to be delivered digitally, meeting GDPR requirements, and be adaptable for use across a range of data management systems

Has been previously used in the United Kingdom at a population and/ or individual level

Has been validated for use at the individual and population level in the United Kingdom or other comparable countries

Can be used to assess development in children at multiple ages from birth to age 5

Is available and validated for use in multiple languages

Is culturally sensitive e.g. a question about motor or personal-social skills which asks whether a child is able to use cutlery might be contextualised with other examples for children from cultures where cutlery is not routinely used

We request that providers whose tool meets the stated feasibility criteria email (child.development@dhsc.gov.uk) by the 31st January 2024 with a one-page document summarising their tool, how it meets the stated criteria, and any other relevant points of interest.