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33
Types of case -
Medical 838
Non-medical but needy 152
Other non-medical 7
997
Methods adopted -
Sheath 283
Pill 531
Diaphragm 182
I.U.D. 270
Other method 26
No method advised 10
1302
More than one method would have been adopted in several cases.
HEALTH VISITING
The Health Visitor is a trained nurse with post registration
qualifications in obstetrics and health visiting who provides a
continuing service to families and individuals in the community.
In some areas she works very closely with the family doctor, but
she is a practitioner in her own right, detecting cases of need on her
own initiative as well as acting on referrals. She has skills and knowledge
particular to her work and these are drawn from her nursing
background and from the additional preparation in her health visiting
course.
Her work has five main aspects:-
1. The prevention of mental, physical and medical ill health and its
consequences;
2. Early detection of ill-health and surveillance of high risk groups;
3. Recognition and identification of need and mobilisation of
appropriate resources where necessary;
4. Health teaching;
5. Provision of care; this will include support during periods of
stress, and advice and guidance in cases of illness as well as in
the care and management of children. The Health Visitor is not,
however, actively engaged in technical nursing procedures.
She has a statutory duty to visit every new born baby following the
notification of birth, thus laying the foundation for a lasting
relationship with the family. No other worker at present combines the
type of knowledge and skills outlined. The service the health visitor
offers is essential if medico/social problems are to be contained within
manageable proportions in relation to available resources in money and
personnel, quite apart from the promotion of the health of the community
in its widest sense.