Re: I thought people might be interested in this.

April 12, 2003

n, I am changing your setting to 'no email,' so that we do not all

get an 'out of office' response from you each time a message is sent.

A reminder for everyone: if you are planning to be away, before your

set an 'autoreply' please go the web page on

/members

and change the settings next to your name. best wishes

n Frost wrote:

>I am sorry but I will be out of the office from Friday 11 April 2003 until

Wednesday 23 April

>2003.

>

April 12, 2003

Could someone pl disconnect me from Senate for 2 weeks whilst I am away.

Many thanks Ruth

Re: I thought people might be interested in this.

> >

> > > I have been following this correspondence with a great degree of

sadness

> > as it provides yet

> > > another example to me of how much can be lost over time if as

professional

> > practitioners we do

> > > not have the vision and assertiveness to fight and make the case for

what

> > we understand to be

> > > good practice. I write as someone with regrets that I have not been as

> > vocal as I now

> > > understand I needed to have been.

> > >

> > > Recent attention to " modernising " the role of the health visitor

similarly

> > grieves me. In 1970

> > > I began to work as a young and inexperienced health visitor. I was

> > employed by the local

> > > authority, and my nearest and only manager (the Superintendent Health

> > Visitor!) was 40 miles

> > > away from my clinic base. From the point of view of protecting the

public

> > I had a level of

> > > freedom from supervision and monitoring which would rightly be

> > unacceptable today. However,

> > > that freedom also allowed me the flexibility and autonomy to attempt

> > practice as I had been

> > > taught.

> > >

> > > What follows is an attempt to describe some of the values, priorities,

and

> > practice of a young

> > > and not very remarkable HV some 30+ years ago.

> > >

> > > 33 years ago my colleague and I developed antenatal classes in

> > collaboration with the local

> > > community midwife, a client who was a qualified physiotherapist, a

> > Marriage Guidance (as it

> > > then was) counsellor who wanted to do positive preventive work, and a

GP

> > with a particular

> > > commitment to obstetrics. Our classes were informal, used a variety of

> > teaching strategies,

> > > and were increasingly client led. We involved fathers and indeed any

> > " significant others "

> > > including grandmothers on occasion. The gains postnatally were evident

in

> > how many of those

> > > who came to the classes approached the trials and tribulations of

becoming

> > parents, in the

> > > informal support groups which developed out of the classes, in the

> > collaboration between

> > > different professionals, and not least in the continuity of care which

> > clients felt they

> > > experienced. We hadn't heard of partnership, interprofessional

> > collaboration, client-centred

> > > practice, healthy alliances, flexible ways of working, - but we

understood

> > that all those

> > > things were an intrinsic part of what health visiting was all about.

> > >

> > > We also held early evening drop-in group sessions in early pregnancy

for

> > working mothers-to-be

> > > who could stop off for a drink and an informal chat, and this strategy

> > hugely increased our

> > > uptake of the main series of classes.

> > >

> > > The attitude of our employer was essentially benevolently hands-off.

> > Evening work was

> > > compensated by time in lieu, which we found almost more useful than

extra

> > cash.

> > >

> > > So far as the birth visit was concerned, it was not often the first

> > contact, as we also

> > > routinely paid at least one antenatal visit. We knew that those

earliest

> > contacts were most

> > > importantly about building the foundations of a meaningful and

effective

> > working relationship

> > > with each family, establishing our street cred. with clients, and that

> > from the start the

> > > client's agenda was as important as our own. Antenatal contact and

visits

> > gave me Having

> > > qualified as a health visitor who then worked as a community midwife

> > before practising as a

> > > health visitor, I didn't experience great dilemmas about overlap in

> > visiting. What was far

> > > more important was firstly having a clear reason for visiting as a

health

> > visitor which didn't

> > > duplicate what the midwife was doing and secondly investing in good

> > working relationships with

> > > the midwives so that neither professional group felt undermined by the

> > other.

> > >

> > > I had a large caseload in a new town - mainly families dislocated from

> > their family networks

> > > and areas of origin, who came to this area for work. I and my

colleagues

> > lacked adequate

> > > preparation for identifying and dealing with child protection and

domestic

> > violence. However,

> > > from the outset we were committed to the notion of working for the

long

> > term futures of our

> > > clients and placed great importance on sufficient effort and input to

> > build valued

> > > relationships with clients early on in our contact with them.

Sometimes

> > that was achieved by

> > > sustained home visiting and sometimes through informal group work with

> > small groups. Without

> > > doubt this was not uncommonly to the detriment of routine contacts in

the

> > home later on, but

> > > at least many clients remembered us and contacted us in times of need

> > because of their early

> > > experiences of us. Then as now there was the problem of whether a

> > universal service was

> > > anything more than a cheerful fantasy - but a single contact at a

birth

> > visit would have been

> > > seen as meaningless.

> > >

> > > I became aware of a local need amongst the " well " elderly (although I

had

> > never heard of needs

> > > assessment!) - living alone, isolated, on low income. I was told they

were

> > " unclubbable " and

> > > that efforts to set up a lunch club had foundered. I took advice from

a

> > local WRVS worker,

> > > recruited 12 " well " elderly as a team, and after 12 months was able to

> > begin a club on local

> > > church premises which is still running today after more than 30 years

and

> > long after I left

> > > the area. I learned how to find pump priming funding, how to build the

> > team's confidence in

> > > their ability, and the challenges of recruiting a leader/organiser. We

> > hired a bus from a

> > > local voluntary group to bring people who were wheelchair bound, and I

> > found a retired lorry

> > > driver to be the regular driver/club handyman. would not only

> > transport members, but do

> > > fixing jobs in members' homes - on one occasion an elderly woman was

in

> > tears because her bed

> > > had collapsed, and by teatime had put it right. I made sure

club

> > boundaries were

> > > blurred. If someone crippled with osteoarthritis could peel a few

> > potatoes, she could see

> > > herself as a provider rather than a consumer. The woman who took the

money

> > at the door also

> > > knew who was ill or needed help - and later, when she was terminally

ill

> > with cancer club

> > > members came to her aid and support. I deliberately recruited couples

as

> > well as the single

> > > and isolated, and the former often brought life and stimulus into the

> > group. Then when a

> > > partner died the club was there for the one who was left. I hadn't

heard

> > of a " special " public

> > > health approach to practice or of community development. Public health

and

> > community

> > > development were simply and intrinsically what health visiting was

about

> > and this was how they

> > > were translated into everyday working.

> > >

> > > When an insanitary local rubbish tip near to the homes of young

families

> > needed closing I

> > > joined with local teachers, householders and other agencies to fight

> > successfully for the

> > > closure. When the company constructing the large new town development

left

> > nowhere for

> > > children to play safely I joined other agencies in lobbying, again

> > successfully, for some

> > > redrafting of the plans.

> > >

> > > The point I am trying to make is that I was not unusual, and that

those

> > with whom I worked all

> > > understood that these activities were as much a part of what health

> > visiting was about as the

> > > other activities which Senate contributors have recently been

describing

> > as " traditional " . It

> > > wasn't " better in the good old days " - although the context was

different

> > there was as much

> > > scope for very poor practice as there is today, and there were many of

the

> > same problems as

> > > today which are still unresolved. Health visitors were a diverse bunch

of

> > individuals, but

> > > there was one thing which was very different then from now.Health

visitors

> > had a strong sense

> > > of what it was to be a health visitor which united them solidly. They

> > might not have been any

> > > better then than now at articulating exactly what a health visitor is,

but

> > when in 1972 the

> > > Briggs Report proposed the title of " family health sister " and began

the

> > process by which

> > > health visiting was ultimately drawn under the statutory control of

> > nursing, health visitors

> > > UK wide were vociferous and pretty united in opposition. My sadness

today

> > includes the

> > > awareness that as a group health visitors are more fragmented and

> > uncertain as to how they

> > > regard themselves, and more willing to accept without question the

right

> > of civil servants,

> > > MPs, and non-health visiting managers to tell them what they are.

> > >

> > > Health visiting began as a public health activity, has its roots in

the

> > need to reconcile

> > > social, political, environmental, and individual factors which affect

the

> > quality of people's

> > > lives and health, and hasn't essentially changed in this respect. It

> > begins with the

> > > individual and the messiness of individual differences and diversity.

> > Therefore without home

> > > visiting it cannot be effective. But it sees the individual's needs as

> > only being fully

> > > understood in the context of the family, the local population, the

> > community and the wider

> > > society. If what we are doing has departed too far from this, it might

be

> > worthwhile, but it

> > > isn't health visiting.

> > >

> > > Betty

> > >

April 12, 2003

I am sorry but I will be out of the office from Friday 11 April 2003 until

Wednesday 23 April

2003.

April 12, 2003

what comers to mind is " don't throw the baby out with the bathwater " .

In the 70s we were much less sophisticated about why we did things but we

knew they worked. I have no doubt we need to know why they work but as

Malcolm says so many of the things Betty mentioned are part and could be

seen to be part of the clinical governance agenda.

Being a people person that is one of things I have always found difficult to

understand - why others cannot see the importance of a therapeutic

relationship or of spending time with people. Researching and proving it

all is fine but it does not help the person at the moment when they need and

it does not improve recovery and clearly reset shows time with people does

aid recovery after illness, bereavement or whatever.

Margaret

Re: I thought people might be interested in this.

> >

> > I have been following this correspondence with a great degree of sadness

> as it provides yet

> > another example to me of how much can be lost over time if as

professional

> practitioners we do

> > not have the vision and assertiveness to fight and make the case for

what

> we understand to be

> > good practice. I write as someone with regrets that I have not been as

> vocal as I now

> > understand I needed to have been.

> >

> > Recent attention to " modernising " the role of the health visitor

similarly

> grieves me. In 1970

> > I began to work as a young and inexperienced health visitor. I was

> employed by the local

> > authority, and my nearest and only manager (the Superintendent Health

> Visitor!) was 40 miles

> > away from my clinic base. From the point of view of protecting the

public

> I had a level of

> > freedom from supervision and monitoring which would rightly be

> unacceptable today. However,

> > that freedom also allowed me the flexibility and autonomy to attempt

> practice as I had been

> > taught.

> >

> > What follows is an attempt to describe some of the values, priorities,

and

> practice of a young

> > and not very remarkable HV some 30+ years ago.

> >

> > 33 years ago my colleague and I developed antenatal classes in

> collaboration with the local

> > community midwife, a client who was a qualified physiotherapist, a

> Marriage Guidance (as it

> > then was) counsellor who wanted to do positive preventive work, and a GP

> with a particular

> > commitment to obstetrics. Our classes were informal, used a variety of

> teaching strategies,

> > and were increasingly client led. We involved fathers and indeed any

> " significant others "

> > including grandmothers on occasion. The gains postnatally were evident

in

> how many of those

> > who came to the classes approached the trials and tribulations of

becoming

> parents, in the

> > informal support groups which developed out of the classes, in the

> collaboration between

> > different professionals, and not least in the continuity of care which

> clients felt they

> > experienced. We hadn't heard of partnership, interprofessional

> collaboration, client-centred

> > practice, healthy alliances, flexible ways of working, - but we

understood

> that all those

> > things were an intrinsic part of what health visiting was all about.

> >

> > We also held early evening drop-in group sessions in early pregnancy for

> working mothers-to-be

> > who could stop off for a drink and an informal chat, and this strategy

> hugely increased our

> > uptake of the main series of classes.

> >

> > The attitude of our employer was essentially benevolently hands-off.

> Evening work was

> > compensated by time in lieu, which we found almost more useful than

extra

> cash.

> >

> > So far as the birth visit was concerned, it was not often the first

> contact, as we also

> > routinely paid at least one antenatal visit. We knew that those earliest

> contacts were most

> > importantly about building the foundations of a meaningful and effective

> working relationship

> > with each family, establishing our street cred. with clients, and that

> from the start the

> > client's agenda was as important as our own. Antenatal contact and

visits

> gave me Having

> > qualified as a health visitor who then worked as a community midwife

> before practising as a

> > health visitor, I didn't experience great dilemmas about overlap in

> visiting. What was far

> > more important was firstly having a clear reason for visiting as a

health

> visitor which didn't

> > duplicate what the midwife was doing and secondly investing in good

> working relationships with

> > the midwives so that neither professional group felt undermined by the

> other.

> >

> > I had a large caseload in a new town - mainly families dislocated from

> their family networks

> > and areas of origin, who came to this area for work. I and my colleagues

> lacked adequate

> > preparation for identifying and dealing with child protection and

domestic

> violence. However,

> > from the outset we were committed to the notion of working for the long

> term futures of our

> > clients and placed great importance on sufficient effort and input to

> build valued

> > relationships with clients early on in our contact with them. Sometimes

> that was achieved by

> > sustained home visiting and sometimes through informal group work with

> small groups. Without

> > doubt this was not uncommonly to the detriment of routine contacts in

the

> home later on, but

> > at least many clients remembered us and contacted us in times of need

> because of their early

> > experiences of us. Then as now there was the problem of whether a

> universal service was

> > anything more than a cheerful fantasy - but a single contact at a birth

> visit would have been

> > seen as meaningless.

> >

> > I became aware of a local need amongst the " well " elderly (although I

had

> never heard of needs

> > assessment!) - living alone, isolated, on low income. I was told they

were

> " unclubbable " and

> > that efforts to set up a lunch club had foundered. I took advice from a

> local WRVS worker,

> > recruited 12 " well " elderly as a team, and after 12 months was able to

> begin a club on local

> > church premises which is still running today after more than 30 years

and

> long after I left

> > the area. I learned how to find pump priming funding, how to build the

> team's confidence in

> > their ability, and the challenges of recruiting a leader/organiser. We

> hired a bus from a

> > local voluntary group to bring people who were wheelchair bound, and I

> found a retired lorry

> > driver to be the regular driver/club handyman. would not only

> transport members, but do

> > fixing jobs in members' homes - on one occasion an elderly woman was in

> tears because her bed

> > had collapsed, and by teatime had put it right. I made sure club

> boundaries were

> > blurred. If someone crippled with osteoarthritis could peel a few

> potatoes, she could see

> > herself as a provider rather than a consumer. The woman who took the

money

> at the door also

> > knew who was ill or needed help - and later, when she was terminally ill

> with cancer club

> > members came to her aid and support. I deliberately recruited couples as

> well as the single

> > and isolated, and the former often brought life and stimulus into the

> group. Then when a

> > partner died the club was there for the one who was left. I hadn't heard

> of a " special " public

> > health approach to practice or of community development. Public health

and

> community

> > development were simply and intrinsically what health visiting was about

> and this was how they

> > were translated into everyday working.

> >

> > When an insanitary local rubbish tip near to the homes of young families

> needed closing I

> > joined with local teachers, householders and other agencies to fight

> successfully for the

> > closure. When the company constructing the large new town development

left

> nowhere for

> > children to play safely I joined other agencies in lobbying, again

> successfully, for some

> > redrafting of the plans.

> >

> > The point I am trying to make is that I was not unusual, and that those

> with whom I worked all

> > understood that these activities were as much a part of what health

> visiting was about as the

> > other activities which Senate contributors have recently been describing

> as " traditional " . It

> > wasn't " better in the good old days " - although the context was

different

> there was as much

> > scope for very poor practice as there is today, and there were many of

the

> same problems as

> > today which are still unresolved. Health visitors were a diverse bunch

of

> individuals, but

> > there was one thing which was very different then from now.Health

visitors

> had a strong sense

> > of what it was to be a health visitor which united them solidly. They

> might not have been any

> > better then than now at articulating exactly what a health visitor is,

but

> when in 1972 the

> > Briggs Report proposed the title of " family health sister " and began the

> process by which

> > health visiting was ultimately drawn under the statutory control of

> nursing, health visitors

> > UK wide were vociferous and pretty united in opposition. My sadness

today

> includes the

> > awareness that as a group health visitors are more fragmented and

> uncertain as to how they

> > regard themselves, and more willing to accept without question the right

> of civil servants,

> > MPs, and non-health visiting managers to tell them what they are.

> >

> > Health visiting began as a public health activity, has its roots in the

> need to reconcile

> > social, political, environmental, and individual factors which affect

the

> quality of people's

> > lives and health, and hasn't essentially changed in this respect. It

> begins with the

> > individual and the messiness of individual differences and diversity.

> Therefore without home

> > visiting it cannot be effective. But it sees the individual's needs as

> only being fully

> > understood in the context of the family, the local population, the

> community and the wider

> > society. If what we are doing has departed too far from this, it might

be

> worthwhile, but it

> > isn't health visiting.

> >

> > Betty

> >

April 12, 2003

what comers to mind is " don't throw the baby out with the bathwater " .

In the 70s we were much less sophisticated about why we did things but we

knew they worked. I have no doubt we need to know why they work but as

Malcolm says so many of the things Betty mentioned are part and could be

seen to be part of the clinical governance agenda.

Being a people person that is one of things I have always found difficult to

understand - why others cannot see the importance of a therapeutic

relationship or of spending time with people. Researching and proving it

all is fine but it does not help the person at the moment when they need and

it does not improve recovery and clearly reset shows time with people does

aid recovery after illness, bereavement or whatever.

Margaret

Re: I thought people might be interested in this.

> >

> > I have been following this correspondence with a great degree of sadness

> as it provides yet

> > another example to me of how much can be lost over time if as

professional

> practitioners we do

> > not have the vision and assertiveness to fight and make the case for

what

> we understand to be

> > good practice. I write as someone with regrets that I have not been as

> vocal as I now

> > understand I needed to have been.

> >

> > Recent attention to " modernising " the role of the health visitor

similarly

> grieves me. In 1970

> > I began to work as a young and inexperienced health visitor. I was

> employed by the local

> > authority, and my nearest and only manager (the Superintendent Health

> Visitor!) was 40 miles

> > away from my clinic base. From the point of view of protecting the

public

> I had a level of

> > freedom from supervision and monitoring which would rightly be

> unacceptable today. However,

> > that freedom also allowed me the flexibility and autonomy to attempt

> practice as I had been

> > taught.

> >

> > What follows is an attempt to describe some of the values, priorities,

and

> practice of a young

> > and not very remarkable HV some 30+ years ago.

> >

> > 33 years ago my colleague and I developed antenatal classes in

> collaboration with the local

> > community midwife, a client who was a qualified physiotherapist, a

> Marriage Guidance (as it

> > then was) counsellor who wanted to do positive preventive work, and a GP

> with a particular

> > commitment to obstetrics. Our classes were informal, used a variety of

> teaching strategies,

> > and were increasingly client led. We involved fathers and indeed any

> " significant others "

> > including grandmothers on occasion. The gains postnatally were evident

in

> how many of those

> > who came to the classes approached the trials and tribulations of

becoming

> parents, in the

> > informal support groups which developed out of the classes, in the

> collaboration between

> > different professionals, and not least in the continuity of care which

> clients felt they

> > experienced. We hadn't heard of partnership, interprofessional

> collaboration, client-centred

> > practice, healthy alliances, flexible ways of working, - but we

understood

> that all those

> > things were an intrinsic part of what health visiting was all about.

> >

> > We also held early evening drop-in group sessions in early pregnancy for

> working mothers-to-be

> > who could stop off for a drink and an informal chat, and this strategy

> hugely increased our

> > uptake of the main series of classes.

> >

> > The attitude of our employer was essentially benevolently hands-off.

> Evening work was

> > compensated by time in lieu, which we found almost more useful than

extra

> cash.

> >

> > So far as the birth visit was concerned, it was not often the first

> contact, as we also

> > routinely paid at least one antenatal visit. We knew that those earliest

> contacts were most

> > importantly about building the foundations of a meaningful and effective

> working relationship

> > with each family, establishing our street cred. with clients, and that

> from the start the

> > client's agenda was as important as our own. Antenatal contact and

visits

> gave me Having

> > qualified as a health visitor who then worked as a community midwife

> before practising as a

> > health visitor, I didn't experience great dilemmas about overlap in

> visiting. What was far

> > more important was firstly having a clear reason for visiting as a

health

> visitor which didn't

> > duplicate what the midwife was doing and secondly investing in good

> working relationships with

> > the midwives so that neither professional group felt undermined by the

> other.

> >

> > I had a large caseload in a new town - mainly families dislocated from

> their family networks

> > and areas of origin, who came to this area for work. I and my colleagues

> lacked adequate

> > preparation for identifying and dealing with child protection and

domestic

> violence. However,

> > from the outset we were committed to the notion of working for the long

> term futures of our

> > clients and placed great importance on sufficient effort and input to

> build valued

> > relationships with clients early on in our contact with them. Sometimes

> that was achieved by

> > sustained home visiting and sometimes through informal group work with

> small groups. Without

> > doubt this was not uncommonly to the detriment of routine contacts in

the

> home later on, but

> > at least many clients remembered us and contacted us in times of need

> because of their early

> > experiences of us. Then as now there was the problem of whether a

> universal service was

> > anything more than a cheerful fantasy - but a single contact at a birth

> visit would have been

> > seen as meaningless.

> >

> > I became aware of a local need amongst the " well " elderly (although I

had

> never heard of needs

> > assessment!) - living alone, isolated, on low income. I was told they

were

> " unclubbable " and

> > that efforts to set up a lunch club had foundered. I took advice from a

> local WRVS worker,

> > recruited 12 " well " elderly as a team, and after 12 months was able to

> begin a club on local

> > church premises which is still running today after more than 30 years

and

> long after I left

> > the area. I learned how to find pump priming funding, how to build the

> team's confidence in

> > their ability, and the challenges of recruiting a leader/organiser. We

> hired a bus from a

> > local voluntary group to bring people who were wheelchair bound, and I

> found a retired lorry

> > driver to be the regular driver/club handyman. would not only

> transport members, but do

> > fixing jobs in members' homes - on one occasion an elderly woman was in

> tears because her bed

> > had collapsed, and by teatime had put it right. I made sure club

> boundaries were

> > blurred. If someone crippled with osteoarthritis could peel a few

> potatoes, she could see

> > herself as a provider rather than a consumer. The woman who took the

money

> at the door also

> > knew who was ill or needed help - and later, when she was terminally ill

> with cancer club

> > members came to her aid and support. I deliberately recruited couples as

> well as the single

> > and isolated, and the former often brought life and stimulus into the

> group. Then when a

> > partner died the club was there for the one who was left. I hadn't heard

> of a " special " public

> > health approach to practice or of community development. Public health

and

> community

> > development were simply and intrinsically what health visiting was about

> and this was how they

> > were translated into everyday working.

> >

> > When an insanitary local rubbish tip near to the homes of young families

> needed closing I

> > joined with local teachers, householders and other agencies to fight

> successfully for the

> > closure. When the company constructing the large new town development

left

> nowhere for

> > children to play safely I joined other agencies in lobbying, again

> successfully, for some

> > redrafting of the plans.

> >

> > The point I am trying to make is that I was not unusual, and that those

> with whom I worked all

> > understood that these activities were as much a part of what health

> visiting was about as the

> > other activities which Senate contributors have recently been describing

> as " traditional " . It

> > wasn't " better in the good old days " - although the context was

different

> there was as much

> > scope for very poor practice as there is today, and there were many of

the

> same problems as

> > today which are still unresolved. Health visitors were a diverse bunch

of

> individuals, but

> > there was one thing which was very different then from now.Health

visitors

> had a strong sense

> > of what it was to be a health visitor which united them solidly. They

> might not have been any

> > better then than now at articulating exactly what a health visitor is,

but

> when in 1972 the

> > Briggs Report proposed the title of " family health sister " and began the

> process by which

> > health visiting was ultimately drawn under the statutory control of

> nursing, health visitors

> > UK wide were vociferous and pretty united in opposition. My sadness

today

> includes the

> > awareness that as a group health visitors are more fragmented and

> uncertain as to how they

> > regard themselves, and more willing to accept without question the right

> of civil servants,

> > MPs, and non-health visiting managers to tell them what they are.

> >

> > Health visiting began as a public health activity, has its roots in the

> need to reconcile

> > social, political, environmental, and individual factors which affect

the

> quality of people's

> > lives and health, and hasn't essentially changed in this respect. It

> begins with the

> > individual and the messiness of individual differences and diversity.

> Therefore without home

> > visiting it cannot be effective. But it sees the individual's needs as

> only being fully

> > understood in the context of the family, the local population, the

> community and the wider

> > society. If what we are doing has departed too far from this, it might

be

> worthwhile, but it

> > isn't health visiting.

> >

> > Betty

> >

April 13, 2003

Hmmm...Im interested to hear about the GPs because they seem still to be so much more politically powerful despite their angst, whereas we dont. I dont think you are cynical at all!!

-----Original Message-----From: Margaret Buttigieg [mailto:margaret@...]Sent: 11 April 2003 17:12 Subject: Re: I thought people might be interested in this.

I think and am increasingly aware that all professions and not only those in health struggle like this.

In terms of health nurses are better or worse you might say at moaning and getting it out in the open. someone said to me yesterday - I went to visit a group of GPS last week and they are in a worst state then we are.

why are we defensive - often because we are threatened and profession protective but also because as Ann says the lack of support and lack of understanding.

As HVs I think we are so used to being challenged and examining our navels that we almost do it automatically without being asked as a defence mechanism. Remember I have been around in health visiting for more years than most and I guess in many ways I am quite cynical!!

Margaret

I thought people might be interested in this.

Parents warned about “unhelpful teaching”

Parents who teach their pre-school children to read, write and add could be setting them up for mental health problems later in life, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health says. A report issued today (04/04/03) encourages patients to interact with their infants through informal play, but warns against adopting a formal teaching approach. The study investigates why so many children have emotional and behavioural problems at a time when they are healthier and better educated than ever. It blames “unhelpful parenting practices” and a lack of understanding among parents of child development.(The Times 04/04/03; p.19)© HMG Worldwide 2003http://www.health-news.co.uk/

Babies of divorced parents suffer

”Babies forced to spend nights in the separate homes of divorced or separated parents often suffer emotional and physical anguish, according to new research. Such infants have more tantrums, develop eating and sleeping disorders, and exhibit distress through symptoms such as raised heartbeats. They also fail to identify their mothers as a source of comfort because they are confused by her regular absences. The findings were made in the world’s first study of how infants’ attachment to their parents is affected by overnight stays.(The Daily Telegraph 04/04/03; p.13)© HMG Worldwide 2003http://www.health-news.co.uk/

April 14, 2003

I do agree with you, Margaret - there's a lot written about nursing turning in on themselves when they feel threatened ..maybe it's more about not understanding what we do? Maybe they should come onto senate where the health visitors' role is articulated beautifully!

Ann

I thought people might be interested in this.

Parents warned about “unhelpful teaching”

Parents who teach their pre-school children to read, write and add could be setting them up for mental health problems later in life, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health says. A report issued today (04/04/03) encourages patients to interact with their infants through informal play, but warns against adopting a formal teaching approach. The study investigates why so many children have emotional and behavioural problems at a time when they are healthier and better educated than ever. It blames “unhelpful parenting practices” and a lack of understanding among parents of child development.(The Times 04/04/03; p.19)© HMG Worldwide 2003http://www.health-news.co.uk/

Babies of divorced parents suffer

”Babies forced to spend nights in the separate homes of divorced or separated parents often suffer emotional and physical anguish, according to new research. Such infants have more tantrums, develop eating and sleeping disorders, and exhibit distress through symptoms such as raised heartbeats. They also fail to identify their mothers as a source of comfort because they are confused by her regular absences. The findings were made in the world’s first study of how infants’ attachment to their parents is affected by overnight stays.(The Daily Telegraph 04/04/03; p.13)© HMG Worldwide 2003http://www.health-news.co.uk/

April 14, 2003

I do agree with you, Margaret - there's a lot written about nursing turning in on themselves when they feel threatened ..maybe it's more about not understanding what we do? Maybe they should come onto senate where the health visitors' role is articulated beautifully!

Ann

I thought people might be interested in this.

Parents warned about “unhelpful teaching”

Parents who teach their pre-school children to read, write and add could be setting them up for mental health problems later in life, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health says. A report issued today (04/04/03) encourages patients to interact with their infants through informal play, but warns against adopting a formal teaching approach. The study investigates why so many children have emotional and behavioural problems at a time when they are healthier and better educated than ever. It blames “unhelpful parenting practices” and a lack of understanding among parents of child development.(The Times 04/04/03; p.19)© HMG Worldwide 2003http://www.health-news.co.uk/

Babies of divorced parents suffer

”Babies forced to spend nights in the separate homes of divorced or separated parents often suffer emotional and physical anguish, according to new research. Such infants have more tantrums, develop eating and sleeping disorders, and exhibit distress through symptoms such as raised heartbeats. They also fail to identify their mothers as a source of comfort because they are confused by her regular absences. The findings were made in the world’s first study of how infants’ attachment to their parents is affected by overnight stays.(The Daily Telegraph 04/04/03; p.13)© HMG Worldwide 2003http://www.health-news.co.uk/

April 14, 2003

excuse my ignorance but I don't think i've heard of the Solihul approach

(may be aware but in a different guise) can anyone give me some pointers

Lyn

>From: " Ruth Grant " <ruth@...>

>Reply-

>< >

>Subject: Re: I thought people might be interested in this.

>Date: Thu, 10 Apr 2003 19:00:44 +0100

>

>Ann - Have too much on my plate today - will come back to you after my

>holiday if you would like me to? Ruth

> I thought people might be interested

>in this.

>

> Parents warned about " unhelpful teaching "

> Parents who teach their pre-school children to read, write

>and add could be setting them up for mental health problems later in life,

>the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health says. A report issued

>today (04/04/03) encourages patients to interact with their infants through

>informal play, but warns against adopting a formal teaching approach. The

>study investigates why so many children have emotional and behavioural

>problems at a time when they are healthier and better educated than ever.

>It blames " unhelpful parenting practices " and a lack of understanding among

>parents of child development.

> (The Times 04/04/03; p.19)

>

> © HMG Worldwide 2003

> http://www.health-news.co.uk/

>

> Babies of divorced parents suffer

>

> " Babies forced to spend nights in the separate homes of

>divorced or separated parents often suffer emotional and physical anguish,

>according to new research. Such infants have more tantrums, develop eating

>and sleeping disorders, and exhibit distress through symptoms such as

>raised heartbeats. They also fail to identify their mothers as a source of

>comfort because they are confused by her regular absences. The findings

>were made in the world's first study of how infants' attachment to their

>parents is affected by overnight stays.

> (The Daily Telegraph 04/04/03; p.13)

>

> © HMG Worldwide 2003

> http://www.health-news.co.uk/

>

April 14, 2003