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HEALTH EDUCATION
During the year, work on the education of the general public in matters of
health and hygiene continued by means of personal communication between Public
Health Department Staff and individuals, talks to Associations illustrated by
topical film strips, poster publicity and leaflet distribution.
The main subjects on which publicity was concentrated during the year, were
the common cold, measles, food hygiene, home safety and the danger to health of
the careless distribution of broken glass. Health education is in some ways
the most important work of the department and each member of the department
staff is continually educating individual members of the public with regard to
the prevention of ill-health, and how to lead full and healthy lives. By health
education through conversation, discussions in groups, attendance at lectures,
observation, however casual, of health publicity on hoardings, in newspapers,
on the cinema, on the wireless, on television, the people are gradually coming
to accept certain fundamental rules of healthy living.
Unfortunately the best propaganda for good hygiene habits seems still to
be fear - warnings of what may happen never have the dramatic results which can
be produced by one death from apreventible cause, or the occurrence of an outbreak
of one of the more crippling infections, and the very fact that in Brentford
and Chiswick for some years the health record has been good, tends to make
the general public rather apathetic to appeals for good hygiene standards to be
maintained by everyone. Still public opinion, formed because of good health
education in the past, can be seen to have developed in many health matters, for
instance, the man who spits in public is seldom seen, the grossly dirty and unkempt
person is rare and usually avoided by others, the foulsmelling or maggot
infested rubbish heaps are quickly reported to the Health Department, and so
progress is made.
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