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38
Meetings with the home help organisers are held monthly, when matters of
common concern are discussed.
In September, a short training course for home helps was organised. It
was held for two days in two consecutive weeks at Shoreditch Health Centre and
16 home helps attended.

The majority of the miscellaneous cases were of acute illness in persons
under 65 years of age. Many of them are mothers who have to go into hospital
for a short period and a home help is sent into the home to act as a temporary
mother substitute. In providing this service the necessity for taking
children into temporary care is often avoided.
The number of home helps employed (equivalent whole-time) was 420.
HEALTH EDUCATION
The Health Education Panel continue to meet at regular intervals to plan
a balanced health education programme for the borough.
During the year, the Social Services Co-ordinating Committee held several
open meetings to which the social workers of the Social Service Departments
and Voluntary Organisations were invited. In March, the Health Department, as
part of its contribution held an exhibition of the work of the Department.
It was sufficiently successful for the exhibition to be repeated in the
Assembly Rooms at the Town Hall so that members of the Council could have an
opportunity of seeing it.
In March a one-day conference on Health Education was held at the
Shoreditch Municipal Offices. The conference was arranged by the Divisional
Education Officer primarily for teachers. Social workers concerned with
health education were also invited to attend. This enabled the groups to
be comprised of members from various fields. The group discussions that
took place were felt to have played an important part in the success of the
conference.
The Department contributed towards the Hackney Field Day in Clissold Park
in June. This is an annual event in which the Council and local organisations
give a public display. The Department showed and sold articles made by the
mentally ill and a mobile dental caravan was on view. The schoolchildren
particularly liked the caravan as it enabled them to visit a dental surgery
without seeing the dentist!
The Department arranged a showing of the mental health film "Time Out
of Mind" in August. Nearly 100 social workers attended the showing in the
Municipal Offices. The film was introduced by Professor Linford Rees,
Consultant Psychiatrist at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, and he was kind enough
to answer questions afterwards.