The Early Care Unit (UAT) of Lanzarote, attached to the Ministry of Health of the Government of the Canary Islands, has carried out a total of 2,412 consultations since it began its activity in July 2024, during which time it has assessed 211 families. This service, located in the Doctor José Molina Orosa University Hospital, provides coverage to boys and girls between zero and six years of age with developmental disorders or at risk of suffering from them and their families from all the municipalities of the island.
In this period of time, the unit has received 211 interconsultations, of which 195 have been assessed, coming from different services, mostly from Primary Care Pediatrics, but also from Neuropediatrics, Rehabilitation and specialized Pediatrics, as well as from the Child and Adolescent Mental Health unit.
This UAT is attended by a multidisciplinary team composed of professionals in clinical psychology, physiotherapy, speech therapy and occupational therapy, in addition to an educational advisor from the Ministry of Education, who, together with the administrative staff and the Auxiliary Nursing Care Technicians (TCAE), offer comprehensive care to facilitate the greatest degree of integration of the child both clinically, family, school and community level.
Of the total consultations attended, 497 correspond to clinical psychology, 559 have been physiotherapy, 544 speech therapy and 656 occupational therapy, while the educational advisor has carried out 143 interventions.
The professionals of the UAT provide an early and multidisciplinary response to minors who present some type of problem in their development and require specialized intervention. The main causes of interconsultations in this first year of operation are related to developmental disorders (motor, cognitive,
communication and language, and behavior, etc.), situations of social risk, as well as prematurity or genetic diseases.
Attention to developmental disorders
Early Care offers care to boys and girls from zero to six years of age with developmental disorders or at risk of suffering from them, and to their families and environment, in such a way that
the maximum level of personal development and social integration can be achieved.
Interventions in the early years of childhood can be decisive to prevent and respond to all possible needs, whether cognitive, emotional, social, sensory or motor.
An essential resource
The manager of Health Services of Lanzarote, Pablo Eguia, considers that the UAT is an essential resource to intervene early and efficiently on the problems
of development of minors, both physical, psychological and social, and highlights the coordinated work carried out by the team of professionals in this first year of
operation, offering a quality service and professional attention to the families of Lanzarote who require this specialized intervention.