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Health Education.—It is necessary and desirable to use
every available means in the propaganda for a Health Campaign.
There is, however, so much health teaching to be done and there
are so few people with so little time to do it all, that it would
clearly be advantageous to know if Campaigns entirely conducted
through the medium of posters had influenced knowledge and
behaviour effectively. My own belief is that the poster system,
while it assists, does not bring home the real meaning; there is
nothing to equal the spoken word delivered directly to the people
concerned. Your Health Visitors and Sanitary Inspectors do
everything possible to educate the people in their own homes about
health and the means of achieving health.
Lecturing to the Parents' and Teachers' Associations has a
very good response in this district, but it is found that the parents
of the youngest children are more eager and anxious to learn the
way to better health than the parents of older children. Adults
in factories and other work-places give very little response. On
the whole the general standard of the people of Edmonton has
improved.
The effect of posters on Food Hygiene has in many instances
shown a vast improvement. Attention is now being paid in
ordinary homes to the dangers of flies and the possibility of food
poisoning from re-heated food. The actual increase in knowledge
is not very apparent, but the effect on the practical need of handwashing
(a) after visiting the lavatory and (b) before handling
food is receiving significant consideration.
Co-ordination and co-operation in the Health Services while
making some progress is not progressing very rapidly. The difficulty
lies along the divisions which exist at the top as well as
similar divisions existing in the counties and districts. Some effort
must be made, if necessary by legislation, to bring hospitals, general
practitioners and local health authorities into closer union. It is
to be regretted that in some instances environmental health services
are being split off from the health services in some districts mainly
by the action of the local authorities and local health authorities.
The Medical Officer of Health and his department have some
duties in the control of Infectious Diseases, Nuisances, Housing,
Food Hygiene and Prevention of Air and Water Pollution. There
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