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(c) Home and child care
(d) Health, physical and mental
(e) Work potential and employment
(f) Income and use of money
(g) Housing
(h) Education, school development
In this group of families there were a significant number of parents showing evidence
of poor physical condition or definite ill health, symptoms associated with personality
problems and underlying mental disorder.
Psychological difficulties appeared in problems of inter-personal relationships
which affected parental functioning. Experience continues to indicate that early
recognition and assessment of family disturbance is important if help is to be given
at an appropriate time and in order to mobilise resources within and without the
family.
2.—Medico social work arising from school clinics has provided opportunity for
preventive work and social workers have continued to offer a casework service to
parents of handicapped children attending special educational units, i.e. Sedgehill
School Partially Hearing Unit; Hither Green Hospital Deaf/Blind Unit and Woodlands
School Autistic Unit. The aim is to see the child's problems against the background
of his total situation.
During the year there was a noticeable increase in the number of children attending
special schools referred for social worker help and plans have now been made to
attach a social worker (health services) to each special school.
In both fields of work co-operation with other statutory and voluntary social
work agencies was regarded as vital.
Students from basic and casework courses have continued to be accepted for varying
periods of practical work experience.
HOME HELP SERVICE
The Council's home help service continued to be heavily used throughout the year.
Details of service being provided at the end of the year with corresponding figures
for 1965 follow.
Premises were found in the Grove Park area for a further office to relieve pressure
on the Rushey Green office and it is hoped that after suitable adaptations have been
carried out, the office will be able to open by the summer of 1967. A number of
premises were inspected as possible alternatives to the Sydenham office, which is
badly sited for its area of service, but none proved suitable and the search for conveniently
sited premises continues.
Talks on the work of the Health department were given by officers representing
different sections of the department to groups of home helps on nine occasions and
attendances totalled 248. These talks, designed to make the home help feel she is a
valued member of the Health department team, which were followed by informal
discussions of particular and general problems, proved most popular with helps and
their organising staff and it is intended to make these meetings a regular feature.
A review of the working of the service was carried out during the year by Dr.
Dorothy Egan, a Principal Medical Officer of the Greater London Council who is
seconded to the Health Dept. for 2 sessions per week. In the course of her review
Dr. Egan visited the three home help offices and discussed the day-to-day operation
and procedures of the service with the organising staff. The implementation of her
recommendations, designed to improve liaison with other services and to make more
effective use of the organising staff by relieving them as far as possible of routine
clerical work were subsequently considered at one of the meetings periodically held
with the organisers and attended by senior officers representing all aspects of the
department's work.
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