Volume 1

Report of the Committee of Enquiry into Mental Handicap Nursing and Care.

  • Great Britain. Committee of Enquiry into Mental Handicap Nursing and Care.
Date:
1979
Catalogue details

Licence: Open Government Licence

Credit: Report of the Committee of Enquiry into Mental Handicap Nursing and Care. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    considered and which could in fact be met by their work or contact with handicapped people. 101. The picture of care which we have constructed tries to follow the course of an individual’s life. At each stage it has attempted to cover a range of care from the least intensive to the most intensive. This will not invariably mean that those who are most handicapped will need the most care, nor the converse. The individual, his social circumstances and the degree and type of his disability will all play their part in determining the pattern of care. We have tried to visualise the experiences which mentally handicapped people will need if they are to reach their full potential at each stage in their lives. We have also tried to describe some of the qualities and skills which caring staff will need if they are to provide those experiences. THE COMPONENTS OF THE MODEL Prevention 102. To begin with we hope and expect that thoughtful application of the knowledge and technology we already have will, in the longer term, signifi- cantly reduce the proportion of children who are born and grow up mildly or severely handicapped. We know, for instance, the importance of good ante- natal care, and the close relationship between the health and behaviour of the mother and the health and development of her child. We are also able to identify those groups of mothers who are ‘at risk’ with regard to ‘pre-term’ births. The challenge is to reach and help these and other mothers — such as those who have a higher chance of producing a child with Down’s Syndrome. Support to Families 103. When a child is assessed as mentally handicapped it is imperative that parents get the best possible information and counselling at this sad and fearful time in their lives. Sometimes, the child’s handicap will be obvious from birth, but in many children it will be possible to make such an assessment only as the child grows older and it is established that his development is slower than that of his peers. There is evidence that, as professionals, we have mishandled the “telling” (what, when and to whom); that we have been slow to enlist the help of other parents; and that we have often communicated our own prejudice and ill-founded predictions about eventual development rather than offering skilled practical advice on how to meet the child’s current developmental needs. In the early years those in the closest contact with parents will be “generalists”, such as GPs, health visitors and midwives who have been in- volved in the ante-natal period, and sometimes also paediatricians and others including nurses and midwives in the maternity and child health services. Attitudes in the professions and among the general public are changing; the general community services are demonstrating their ability and willingness to help mentally handicapped people. This development should be encouraged and the community staff should be offered training to prepare them to work with their new clients. 104. It would be fruitless to list all the general services from which mentally _ handicapped people could benefit but the Primary Health Care Team (PHCT) of GP, Health Visitor, District Nursing Sister and Midwife will be an important resource for families. The Health Visitor should provide continual support but