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30
HEALTH EDUCATION AND HOME SAFETY
Miss D.S. Elliott, S.R.N., H.V. Cert., Dip. H.E.
Principal Health Education Officer
1968 was a turbulent year of movement and adjustment to Taberner
House, the acquisition of basic furniture and equipment and staff changes.
By December the Health Education Section had settled down well with the
exception of persistent and time-wasting difficulties with car parking and
the loading and unloading of equipment.
The Library now extensively used by all sections of the Health Department
is growing slowly and efforts will be made to increase its resources
during the coming financial year. Considerable time is spent in helping
Public Health, Nursing and Teaching Staffs and Students of different
disciplines with references, materials and the arrangement of their educational
work.
The quality and quantity of work among mothers in the Toddlers
Clinics improved again during the year and the wide variety and range of
subjects in the programmes illustrated the interest of the public and the
imagination of the Staff, many of whom were newly appointed and undertook
this work for the first time.
The co-operation and work done by the Public Health Inspectors with
Staff and Students within the organisations in the Borough and in Clinic
Groups was much appreciated. The general public has remarkably little
knowledge of the breadth and depth of Public Health Services.
Mental Health
The Health Education and Mental Health Sections worked with the
Croydon Association for Mental Health and helped in the organisation of
activities during Mental Health Week. Displays, some illustrating the
activities and workload of the Community Mental Health Services and others
illustrating topics and talking points on the promotion of good Mental
Health used in various educational settings,were set up in Rees House and
in a shop in St. George's Walk. They were always manned by a member of
Staff from the Mental Health Section and a volunteer from the Croydon
Association for Mental Health. Interest was stimulated by paintings executed
by patients and loaned by Warlingham Park Hospital, and some of these
were hung in the foyer of Croydon Technical College. A coffee Morning was
held on the first Saturday in St. Matthew's Church Hall and two Mental
Health films suitable for the general public were shown during the morning.
The attendance was lower than anticipated but the discussion and questions
following the films were lively and worth while. Among other activities
arranged to involve many sections of the public were Church Services and
Open Days at Waylands Training Centre, Warlingham Park Hospital, The
Crescent Day Centre and St. Lawrence's Hospital. Films followed by