A bureau of child hygiene; co-operative studies and experiments by the Deparment of health of the city of New York and the Bureau of municipal research.

  • New York (N.Y.). Department of Health.
Date:
1908
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A bureau of child hygiene; co-operative studies and experiments by the Deparment of health of the city of New York and the Bureau of municipal research. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University Libraries/Information Services, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University.

    19/88 (page 9)
    „, ,.._ . At the outset, the examinations were in the nature Notification . „ ... of parents rather oi an investigation than a branch of work intended to bring about practical results in the way of treatment. From the start, however, the evidence de- rived from the examinations all pointed to the same conclu- sion, viz., that a large proportion of school children were suf- fering- from remediable physical defects. It immediately be- came clear that examination which did not in some way lead to treatment was futile. The department of health accord- ingly adopted a plan for notifying the parents of children ex- amined in regard to defects needing treatment. At first the notification was enclosed in an envelope and taken home by the child. Later, a reply postal card was employed, the reply being intended to provide the physician consulted by the parent with the means of informing the department of health as to the treatment given. This method has been used up to the present time. In 1907, instead of recording on a separate card Progress in . . . . method each examination and re-exammation, a single card was substituted providing space for the rec- ord of two examinations every year of the child's school life. These cards were not intended to be forwarded to the office of the department of health, as were the former single records. After being summarized by the medical inspector for the pur- poses of reporting, they were left in the schools, usually with the individual teachers. The intention was that by accompany- ing the children from one school and grade to another they should at any time supply teachers with information as to the physical condition of their pupils. These are the only innova- tions of importance since 1905. Organization and Supervision General organization The medical examination of school children, in- cluding that for non-contagious defects, has al- ways been a part of the work carried on in each borough by the division of contagious diseases, under the chief medical inspector. Under the organization hitherto prevail- ing in the department of health, these officials have had no