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36
THE WORK OF THE HEALTH VISITOR
Miss L. E. Oakley, S.R.N., S. C. M., H. V. Cert.
Superintendent Health Visitor
1962 was the Centenary year of Health Visiting.
In 1862 the Ladies Sanitary Reform Association of Manchester
and Salford appointed paid visiting staff 'to visit all and
sundry in their district, concentrating on cleanliness, good
management and good living, helping the sick and advising mothers
on the care of their children.'
Just over 60 years ago Croydon appointed 2 women Sanitary
Inspectors to do this work in the Borough and now there are 29
Health Visitors whose terms of reference as set out in the 1956
Working Party Report are:-
Ihe functions of Health Visitors should primarily be health
education and social advice; they may usefully undertake other
functions, but these should arise from or be incidental to their
primary functions. In carrying out all their functions, Health
Visitors should have full regard to the needs of the family and
the part played hy other workers.
Although the Health Visitor is aware of the nature of the
part played fcy most Mother workers', they tend to associate her
with the care of mothers and babies only-not realising ho*
much she knows about families in the widest sense of the wordand
how much she could help them.
This year with no major immunising or vaccination programmes
to deal with, Health Visitors have been able to devote more of
their time to their primary functions than has been the case in
some previous years. Mothers Clubs and Toddlers clubs have given
opportunity for more group teaching and discussion and Health
Visitors are realising the amount of time saved by these techniques.
"Father's Night" has now become the recognised means of
finishing the teaching in the Mothercraft Classes and have been
greatly appreciated.
Miss Hall and Miss Butcher fully justified the opportunity
given them to attend a parentcraft Teaching Course', by obtaining
1st and 2nd place in the final examination-both being
commended for work of an exceptionally high standard.
Group teaching is not everyone's strong point, but individual
teaching in the homes and infant welfare centres is within the
scope of all. As in the case of group discussion a wide range of
subjects is covered, including infant feeding, prophylaxis, prevention
of minor defects and the early recognition of illness
whether mental or physical, the problems of the school child and
adolescent, budgetting, the place of the ageing in the family,
etc.