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37
I am indebted to the physicians at the undermentioned treatment
centres for the following statistics for 1970:—

HEALTH EDUCATION AND HOME SAFETY
Health Education and the Adult—The Parent as Partner
When one considers some features of modern society, the
burden of ill-health, much of it the result of ignorance of basic
principles of healthy living, the misuse of the National Health
Service—over-use by some and the suffering which goes unrelieved
because many others fail to consult their doctors or dentists or
disregard or misinterpret their advice, the gullibility of many who
when subjected to social pressures or to the subtle persuasive
influences which have been called "admass" make the unwise
decisions to over-eat to smoke or drink heavily, or to experiment
with drugs, one must conclude pessimistically that our education
system sorely needs buttressing.
There is much to set against such a gloomy view, however;
more books are read and purchased than ever before; more informative
articles—often on health topics—appear in the popular press;
health programmes produced by the BBC and the Independent
Television have a large following. Critical assessment of advertisements
and products—including many which make claims in the
field of health—is finding a considerable following, and further
education in various forms is available on a vastly increased scale
for adults.
Health education for adults comes in many guises. Books,
magazines, newspapers, films, sound or television broadcasting and