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42
these seminars. However, due to more demand being made on the
services of the Psychiatrist the time given to the health visitors had to be
changed from a weekly seminar to a double session for two groups of
health visitors once a month.
Health Education in Schools
Active health education programmes continued in Harrow junior and
secondary schools during 1971 conducted by health visitors and other
staff working in close liaison with head teachers to select teaching programmes
most suited to the individual needs of the pupils. Films and
visual aids were used in the programmes to illustrate the syllabus. These
sessions were also used by the student health visitors for observation
purposes and also at the same time used as a medium for gaining experience
in practical teaching methods. In the junior schools, a varied programme
of subject matter consisting of health, hygiene and sex education was
used and in the senior schools the programme included for mixed classes
of pupils topics in homemaking, health, personal hygiene, human
relationships, family responsibility, veneral diseases in the community.
In addition, some classes were given in school assembly to embrace
more pupils on such topics as "Help in the Community after the pupils
leave school", family planning advice and the welfare services. Groups
of senior pupils are still visiting elderly people once a week helping
with shopping, sitting-in for partially blind mothers on the request of
health visitors and in addition senior girls have been on observation
visits to the child health clinics. During the year many evening lectures
were given by the community nursing staff to groups of young people on
various topics, such as, child care, accident prevention, prophylactic
medicine, infectious diseases and social services. Talks were also arranged
for various mothers clubs, young wives clubs and geriatric clubs. Students
from the Harrow Technical College studying home economics, after
careful briefing from a health visiting team, visited chosen families in the
district. This served to introduce to the students a practical element into
their studies on the various problems met by a family living in the
community.
Clinic Nurses
All ten health clinics in Harrow have a state registered nurse attached
to assist the health visitor team with clinic duties and allow the health
visitor more time for her specialised work in the community. They are in
charge of minor ailment sessions for school children, immunisation and
toddlers clinics, cytology clinics, school hygiene inspections for head
infestations, foot inspections, treatment of verruca, and routine medical
examinations at school. Vision testing with the Keystone Telebinocular
screener is carried out by the clinic nurses.
One further appointment was made in June 1971 to support the
task of eye testing of junior school children between the age of 7 and 8
years. This age group was found to be in need of special observation and
most likely to show eye defects.