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46
During Mental Health Week an exhibition was staged in cooperation
with the Granada Cinema featuring the services and establishments
maintained by the Council. This revealed that many visiting the
exhibition had little concept of changing policy on mental health within
the community, which to be successful needs a greater increase in tolerance
and understanding from the general public. It is encouraging to report
that the greatest increase in talks to local organisations have been in those
dealing with mental health.
The fourteen film evenings on child-birth arranged for expectant
mothers and their husbands were well attended and very few expressed
any misgivings at having seen this preview of their coming "ordeal"—
again there is no doubt that the informed husband, for whom additional
fathercraft classes are held, can be a source of great comfort to his wife
during pregnancy and the post-natal period.
The theme of the exhibition at the Delegate Conference was that
of "Home Safety" to which the Gas and Electricity Industries contributed
stands. Industry is assuming an increasing role in both industrial health
and industrial safety and at least one local company are well in the forefront
of this field. The exhibit was later transferred to the exhibition
organised by the Harrow Chamber of Trade during Civic Week.
Campaigns were also organised featuring smoking and health;
immunisation—there being still some parents who fail to take advantage
of the protection available to their children. Whilst most people must be
aware of the association of lung cancer with heavy smoking, fewer are
aware of its significance in cardio-vascular disease and chronic bronchitis.
In the field of community health, a further clean air week and
exhibition was held at Cecil Park Clinic and mobile exhibitions visited
those areas about to become smoke controlled.
Excluding courses in schools and mothercraft classes, a total of 134
talks were given involving the Department personnel.
Health education needs must vary in content and method depending
on the type of community involved. If vital statistics, in the improvement
of which health education is playing a proportionately increasing role, are
any indication, Harrow, whose figures compare with any in the country,
would appear to be a well informed community. With a pre-dominance of
the higher socio-economic groups in Harrow this should be so, compared
for example, with a society having a higher proportion of immigrants—
perhaps a greater problem in Harrow is not that of ignorance but of the
dangers of excess.