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HEALTH EDUCATION
The Section began the year by staging the Medicines with Care Exhibition which
was sponsored by the Pharmaceutical Society. As this exhibition was being staged
for the first time in a London Borough, the President of the Society and the Mayor
took part in the opening ceremony. The exhibition was an attempt to publicise the
need for care in the handling and storage of drugs of all kinds, the misuse of medicines
being responsible for over 500 deaths each year.
During the year the Quarterly Health Bulletin increased its circulation to 7,000.
It is distributed widely by the sending of copies to general medical practitioners for
use in their waiting rooms, to various clubs for the young and old, to the Old People's
Luncheon Clubs, and it is given out with Meals on Wheels. Copies also go to schools,
to the Council's clinics and to the Borough libraries for distribution.
In-service training is a function of the section and discussion groups were arranged
on many subjects, and for the near future we look forward to arranging short courses
of instruction on themes such as Clean Food. Health visitors and other members of
the staff are assisted in their own health education programmes. Visual aids have
been supplied together with charts and scripts. The staff gave talks to various organisations,
including schools. Health education in schools is given as a matter of routine
practice by health visitors and school nurses, particularly to teenage girls. Posters
and pamphlets are continuously being distributed, the section having during the
year produced three pamphlets of its own.
On the information side of health education, the Section is engaged on the third
edition of the brochure "Health Services and How to Obtain Them". Material on
many subjects is gradually being collected so that speakers can come to the Section
for information as well as for visual aids. Photographs are also being accumulated
with a view to future exhibitions.
A system for obtaining home safety statistics and guidance as to how to reduce
home accidents has been started in conjunction with the two neighbouring Boroughs
of Southwark and Greenwich. Reply-paid forms are being given by doctors and
hospital casualty departments to patients who have had a home accident. These
forms are filled in by the patient and sent back to the Health Education Section.
The age groupings and types of accidents should give useful guidance as to what
subjects need the most urgent attention.
During October a start was made on a "Home Safety Area". A portion of the
Borough was outlined on a map and street by street all the householders in the area
received a letter outlining the Council's wish to help prevent accidents. A list was
given of possible home hazards and reference was made to the forthcoming visit by a
Council adviser to help them spot the dangers in their own home if they so wished.
As the premises were visited advice was given and in certain cases pamphlets were
also distributed. Of the homes where people have answered the door, one in two
has allowed the visitor in to look for potential dangers. Visitors have been well
received and already steps are being taken to remedy some of the hazards found.
At the end of the year the Section organised a dental hygiene project which involved
Pierre the Clown visiting many schools in the Borough, talking to infants
and juniors on the need for cleaning teeth and the various ways in which it can be
done. He invited the children to join the Apple Club and gave each child an apple
on behalf of the Fruit Producers' Council. Pierre was sponsored by the General
Dental Council and undoubtedly got his message over to the children (see Page 27).
Although an audience of 5,000 children in a week had to be guaranteed, in fact
9,200 children saw the performance and each received the aforementioned apple
and leaflets on dental health and hygiene.
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