View report page

the provision of instructors and arranging for
the assessment relating to the service section
of the scheme which includes knowledge of
safety in and around the home The attention
of the public has also been drawn to particular
aspects of home safety in the provision of
posters displayed at clinics welfare centres
and other public buildings in the borough In
view of the fact that the most frequent victims
of home accident fatalities are elderly people
(i e 67%) arrangements were made during
the year to provide home safety literature
relating to advice and guidance to the aged and
this literature was distributed to aged people
attending clubs in the borough Talks and film
shows on the question of home safety have
again been a regular feature of the home safety
campaign being conducted in the borough
The Hounslow Project An operational research
and experiment into human social functioning
Mr E Heimler AAPSW social work organiser
and advisor on health education and Miss L J
Dighton psychiatric case worker report as
follows -
Over the last twelve months a number of
developments have taken place in the Hounslow
Project The main concentration of work has
been upon the refinement of techniques and
methods of social work practice Social workers
using the scale now report that the scale of
social functioning can save several hours
interviewing time in the gathering of information
about clients and patients Social workers in
the U S A confirm this The implications are
far-reaching Instead of increased staff the
need may now be for more highly trained staff
Developments abroad are very considerable
A centre for studies in social functioning is
now established in Seattle (Washington) and
Mr Heimler has been appointed as visiting
professor at the university for 1969 A similar
centre is under planning in California where
social workers in the department of social
welfare San Jose have already been using the
scale of social functioning in studies of
unemployed people Other projects are under
way on the west coast and Professor M J
Griswold is initiating research into inter family
problems and problems of delinquency and race
relations The Dean of the Faculty of Social
Work of the University of Washington has now
requested that members of his Faculty and
students should learn the methods and techniques
of Social Functioning developed in Hounslow
Professor Henry Maier Ph D who has spent some
months with us in Hounslow exploring and
discussing our practice will be returning to that
university in the autumn In Canada at the
University of Calgary the philosophy and techniques
have been incorporated into the teaching curriculum
and all members of the faculty of social welfare are
under training From this university the federal
local authorities in Canada are drawing on these
concepts of social functioning with a view to their
application in social work departments and the
Department of Immigration and Manpower Mr Heimler
has been appointed full professor to the faculty at
the Universi ty of Calgary
Despite some resistance to new ideas and
techniques in social work practice the work of the
project over the past year has continued with
increasing momentum although at present without
outside financial support It is hoped that when
the national economic situation becomes easier this
possibility of financial support can be opened up
again Meantime much work into the application of
theory and practice needs to be done in the field
work situation and the project workers are experimenting
widely to discover the areas of maximum
impact
Cervical Cytology
This service was introduced in 1966 and was expanded
during 1967 In spite of local campaigns and publicity
and approaches to women s organisations the number
of women attending the council s clinics dropped
this year Some industrial concerns co opted by
allowing groups of women to have time off for the
test
Apart from taking cervical smears our medical
officers examined the vagina and all pelvic organs
and also the breasts The blood pressure is taken
and the urine is tested
Two thousand and seventy-one women had
cervical smears taken at the Family Planning
Association s clinics in the borough Smears are
also taken at hospital gynaecological clinics and in
family doctors surgeries the total number or women
who have been screened in the borough is therefore
not known
The following statistics relate to women examined
at the councils clinics
i
35