London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Brentford and Chiswick 1955

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Brentford and Chiswick]

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(5) The provision of a library service for home-bound
tuberculous patients,
(6) Home visiting in cases of distress and the provision
of urgently required household articles or home
nursing,
(7) The provision of volunteer workers to travel to and
from hospital with sick, aged blind people or children,,
and to give regular blanket baths to the sick
and nursing,
(8) The supply of instructors in first aid for Civil Defence
volunteers adult and youth groups,
(9) The allocation of accommodation in Red Cross Homes,
short or long stay, for old people and convalescents.
WELFARE OF THE BLIND AND PARTIALLY SIGHTED
The County Council provides Welfare Services for the blind and partially
sighted under the National Assistance Act, 1948
There are resident in the Borough 99 registered blind persons and 26
registered partially sighted persons
Three of these are undergoing courses of training, and fourteen are in
employment.
The majority of the blind however, are not available for, or not capable
of, training and employment owing to age or infirmity or for some other reason
The County Council's Home Teacher of the Blind carries out regular domiciliary
visiting, and the object of the service is to enable every blind person to
lead as full and active a life as this handicap allows„ The Home Teacher's
duties include the rehabilitation in their own homes of the newly blind, helping
them to regain their independence and mobility in the house and neighbourhood
and to perform the common daily tasks such as dressing etc, and simple household
duties She also teaches Braille and Moon methods of reading to those who
wish to learn, and 13 blind residents in the Borough are members of the National
Library for the Blind, which Organisation receives financial support from the
County Council.
A handcraft classisheld fortnightly at the Area Welfare Office, 14a,Sutton
Court Road, Chiswick,, and this is attended by about twelve persons. A weekly
class in ballroom old time dancing is held in Ealing, and is attended by some
of the blind residents of the Borough,
The County Council works in close touch with Voluntary Organisations,
including the Club for the Blind which meets fortnightly at the Christ Church
Hall, Turnham Green, and the Middlesex Association for the Blind, who maintain
a Holiday Home at Littlehampton and two Residential Homes as well as assisting
financially, and by way of gifts individual necessitous blind persons
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