[Report 1956] / School Medical Officer of Health, Dorset County Council.

  • Dorset (England). County Council.
Date:
1956
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1956] / School Medical Officer of Health, Dorset County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    18/86 (page 18)
    Educational Work Educational work as a statutory obligation of the local health authority is carried out by medical officers and health visitors. The broad principles of health education are brought to the notice of those attending welfare centres by means of large arresting posters, films and short talks by health visitors, with the object of arousing the interest of parents in the more detailed aspects of the subject according to their individual needs and capacity. The maintenance of good physical health and mental balance is encouraged by eminently practical measures including advice on food values and good cooking, suitable clothing and footwear, labour-saving devices and equipment and the need for adequate rest and recreation. Talks where possible are supplemented by films or a display of suitable footwear for toddlers and school children, and clothing, bedding, etc., kindly lent for the purpose by local tradesmen. The subject of accidents in the home has again been kept in the forefront of current propaganda, and prevention of accidents on the highway has also received its fair share of attention. Much needed propaganda on the necessity for cleanliness in food prepara- tion and storage has been pursued with vigour during the year, and no opportunity has been lost in pointing out the serious effects on the health of the nation of the neglect of cleanliness in the handling of foodstuffs. The importance of dental hygiene, care of the feet, vaccination, immunisation, and other subjects included in health education has been stressed by means of films, demon- strations, and poster displays arranged in connection with each subject for a period of a month or six weeks during the year. Mothers attending the centres, although not particularly attracted by films and set talks, are gradually becoming more recep- tive to visual aids. The vast majority respond well to individual advice and practical demonstrations. Small group discussions continue to be popular and prove highly siiccessful as a means of introducing sound educational principles. Posters, leaflets and demonstrations displayed in the waiting halls at clinics are useful for keeping the general public informed of advances in health education, and it is gratifying to observe the interest shown in the displays by those visiting the clinics for various purposes. Health of the Child Children under regular medical supervision at the centres have continued during the year to maintain good physical health, but the mental health of children of two years and upwards has generally been less satisfactory, an appreciable number exhibiting temper tantrums, irritability, and other symptoms of mental disturbance. Some of these children have been admitted to hospital for investigation; others have been referred to the county consultant children's psychiatrist with good results in some instances, but in others, where the mother has failed to realise the importance of the part she plays towards the child’s recovery, little progress has been observed. All too often the father of the family fails in his responsibility towards the character building of the young child, which is left to the mother; nor does he appreciate the importance of his influence and its far reaching effects, for good or evil, on the behaviour of the growing child and ultimately on his conduct in response to the stresses and strains of adult life. Other Provision Birth Control Advice on contraception is given at Poole, Dorchester, Blandford, Bridport, Wareham and Weymouth, and also at Beaminster until September when the clinic was closed owing to the small number of patients attending. Medical officers in charge of clinics at Poole, Dorchester and Wareham hold separate sessions for this service, and only patients specifically recommended by medical practitioners are given advice and instruction. The clinics continue to prove their usefulness in helping married women suffering from serious medical conditions, including pulmonary tuberculosis, cardiac disease, mental illness, disseminated sclerosis, epilepsy and innumerable other conditions hazardous to child-bearing, to avoid pregnancy. During the year under review several women have been recommended for this service on justi- fiable social grounds, including bad and overcrowded housing conditions especially amongst caravan dwellers where a family of two or more children is living in a caravan under very difficult conditions for the mother. A review of the cases recommended for birth control reveals that a high proportion of women voluntarily discard its use as soon as their health and circumstances permit; others who cannot be restored to full mental or physical well-being due to the nature of their illness continue to use it to the advantage of themselves and their families. Theoretically birth control should be a valuable factor in the rehabilitation of the problem family but, in practice, other factors such as mental and physical ill-health of one or both parents and low social standards militate against it. Often the mother is incapable of the sustained effort necessary for success or, quite commonly, the father refuses to co-operate. Family doctors should not be discouraged from recommending such patients to a contraception clinic for advice, even if there appears to be less likelihood of success than failure. Statistics Attendances at Contraception Clinics Clinic Number of Sessions First A ttendances Total A ttendances Blandford 22 38 89 Dorchester . . 28 71 328 Bridport 23 44 150 Beaminster 17 9 39 Wareham . . 23 41 191 Hamworthy 73 99 630 Weymouth 23 109 157 Totals 209 411 1,584