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to all causes. The Home Safety Committee is
constantly attacking the problem by way of
propaganda, talks and suggested legislation in the
attempt to reduce this shocking casualty figure.
Of particular note is the fact that during 1966
the borough council approved the installation of
appropriate fireguards to all existing aged
persons' dwellings.
Falls account for more accidental deaths in and
around the home than all other causes
collectively. Fatalities due to falls in Great
Britain in 1965 numbered 4,451 ie fifty-three
per cent of the overall total. About half of the
deaths are caused by falls on one level, ie
tripping, slipping and stumbling, and about a
quarter are due to falls from one level to another
eg down stairs, from ladders, etc. Eighty-nine
per cent of the fatalities were to people aged 65
years and over.
The second main cause of accidental death
in the home is poisoning—the death toll in
1965 was 1,696 ie twenty per cent of the total.
Fatalities due to household gas numbered 948
constituting fifty-six per cent of the deaths due to
poisoning, most of the victims being elderly
people. There were seventy-three deaths due to
other gases, and deaths caused by solid and liquid
substances numbered 675.
As in 1964, suffocation and choking constituted
the third major cause of accidental deaths in the
home in 1965. There were 889 fatalities due to this
cause ie nearly eleven per cent of the total. In this
category of accidents about seven out of ten of
the victims choke over food and a quarter
suffocate in pillow and bedclothes. Over seventy
per cent of the deaths due to suffocation and
choking were to children under five years of age
in 1965.
The fourth main cause of home accident
fatalities in 1965 was burns and scalds. The toll
was 869, ie over ten per cent of the overall total.
In this general category about nine out of ten of
the deaths are due to fire and explosion of
combustible materials, ie burns by clothing
catching alight, by falling into the fire,
conflagration, etc. The remaining fatalities are
caused by hot substances, corrosive liquids and
steam. Frequent victims of accidental burns and
scalds are elderly people and very young children.
Deaths due to other miscellaneous causes in
Great Britain totalled 479. Of these, seventy-five
were due to drowning and about sixty were
caused by electrocution. Deaths due to lack of
care of infants numbered forty-seven and
excessive cold caused forty-three fatalities. There
were about twenty-five deaths caused by blows
from falling objects, and deaths due to firearms
numbered twenty-three.'
The Hounslow Project and its implication for
Health Education in general
The Hounslow Project is an operational research
in the field of prevention, particularly that of
social and emotional breakdown.
Included in my last report was a description of
the survey being conducted by Mr E Heimler,
AAPSW, who is the social work organiser and
advisor on health education and is assisted by
Miss Julia Dighton, psychiatric case worker.
The pilot survey to ascertain community
attitudes to the social services provided by the
borough has now been completed and the work
has attracted the attention of the Ministry of
Health who have informally indicated their
willingness to consider granting financial
assistance but the position has not yet been
reached when a final decision can be made.
The survey clearly indicates that the possibility
of breakdown is increased during periods of
change in human life. These changes may be due
to a number of reasons, such as unemployment,
the death of a family member, change of
occupation and/or environment, physical or
mental illness, school leaving, choosing work or
occupation, marriage, pregnancy, the birth of a
subnormal or sick child, the menopause and
finally, retirement. There are, of course, other
phases of life when significant changes also occur.
If the nature of such changes is fully understood,
both by those whose responsibility it is to
assist people under stress and also by the
individuals themselves, then the danger of breakdown
can be prevented in a large number of
instances.
The project workers have ascertained that there
is a relationship between human satisfactions on
one hand, and normal social functioning on the
other, and they have found that when the
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