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Convalescence for Adults
Number of applications during year 76
Length of stay:-
One week
Two weeks 62
Three weeks 14
HEALTH EDUCATION
Though one cannot assess the success of one's efforts in Health Education the
conviction remains that the persuasion of the public to adopt attitudes and actions
which promote health is a very important part of modern Public Health practice, the
County Council's decision to appoint Health Education Officers in the Health Areas was
undoubtedly a major step forward. Unfortunately we were unable to implement this
decision during the year under review but, nevertheless, were able by the use of professional
staff to provide lectures in schools and to mothers on a variety of subjects.
These varied from sex instruction to care of the feet, and included the whole range of
subjects under the general name of "Mothercraft" .
In addition to the professional talks and the films often associated with them,
displays were arranged in clinics and other places of which the most noteworthy was the
shop window at 280 Leyton High Road. During the year this shop window at different
times urged the public to consider the ill effects of smoking, the causes and prevention
of accidents of all sorts in the home and on holiday, including fireworks in November,
and also the perils of driving after drinking. In addition it was used to demonstrate
to the public the many ways the welfare services of all sorts could help the public,
and in turn how the public could, with the Welfare Services, bring even wider benefit
to the older people in the Borough.
One particular project worthy of special mention was the Central Council for Health
Education unit visited the area during the summer term to speak and demonstrate on the
dangers of smoking.
SECTION 29 - DOMESTIC HELP
The domestic helps continue their valuable and so practical service. If the
problem is one requiring practical help of a common sense kind, whether it be looking
after children or keeping the household going for an old person who would otherwise be
dead or in hospital, there is nearly always a home help who can meet the need.
Occasionally a case crops up which is in such an overwhelming state of filth that
the home help may refuse to cope with it, but the remarkable thing is how often she
will take such a case in her stride and deal with it. I am sure if the general public
were aware of some of the jobs which are tackled without complaint their regard for
this service, already high, would rise even further.
Another aspect of the service which is often overlooked is the purely human one of
the light that some of the helps being into the lives of the old people they serve.
This also may go well beyond the bounds of duty in a genuine care for the old person
which is sincere and appreciated. Indeed this may become so important to a lonely old
person that the visit of the help becomes a lifeline to them. In many cases it is not
what they are but who they are that makes these particular members of the Health Department
team so successful in their work.
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