H

HEALTHCARE COMMISSION
The Healthcare Commission is the operating name for the Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection (or CHAI). Like the Commission for Social Care Inspection, it was formed by the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Act 2003, and launched on 1 April 2004.It inspects health care provision in accordance with national standards and other service priorities, and reports directly to Parliament on the state of health care in England and Wales.See also Ofsted <<

HEALTH PROMOTION
Health promotion is a term used within the health service to describe the provision of information on healthier lifestyles and how to make the best use of health services. The intention is to enable people to make rational health choices and to ensure that people are aware of those factors that determine health in the community. <<
HIGHER LEVEL TEACHING ASSISTANT (HLTA)
A wide range of school support staff provide support for teachers in relation to teaching and learning. Higher Level Teaching Assistants (or HLTAs) have greater complexity and autonomy than other classroom support roles. HLTAs may undertake the more demanding elements of specified work under the direction and supervision of a teacher.This may involve working with individual pupils, as well as with groups and whole classes. HLTA status recognises the levels of knowledge, skills and understanding that many school support staff have and the valuable contribution they make in schools.See also Teaching assistant <<

HOME-SCHOOL AGREEMENT
All state schools are required to have written home-school agreements, drawn up in consultation with parents. These are non-binding statements explaining the school’s aims and values, the responsibilities of both the school and parents, and what the school expects of its pupils. Parents will be invited to sign a parental declaration, indicating that they understand and accept the contents of the agreement. <<
HYPERACTIVITY
[See Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder ] <<
HYPERKINETIC DISORDER (OR HYPERKINESIS)
This is the term used by the psychiatry profession in the UK to describe a serious disorder involving persistent hyperactivity, impulsive behaviour and inattentiveness; it is closely related to what American psychiatrists and paediatricians call attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).Hyperkinetic disorder (or hyperkinesis) is not strictly synonymous with ADHD, however. Although the two diagnoses are said to be converging, the different terms still reflect some differences in diagnostic criteria as set out in the two major psychiatry diagnostic manuals (the American Psychiatric Association’s DCM-IV, used mainly but not exclusively in the United States, and the World Health Organisation’s ICD-10, which is more commonly used in the UK).ADHD is defined in DSM-IV and involves three characteristic types of behaviour – inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity. Whereas some children show signs of all three types of behaviour (this is called ‘combined type’ ADHD), other children diagnosed show signs only of inattention or hyperactivity/impulsiveness.

Hyperkinetic disorder (as defined in ICD-10) is a more restrictive diagnosis. It is broadly similar to what American clinicians would call severe-combined type ADHD, in that signs of inattention, hyperactivity and impulsiveness must all be present. These core symptoms must also have been present before the age of seven, and must be evident in two or more settings.

However, by no means all clinicians in the UK rely solely on ICD-10: diagnoses of ADHD by child and adolescent psychiatrists and paediatricians, based on DSM-IV criteria, are now becoming increasingly common.

See also Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder <<