Abstract
The history of health visiting, the development of the training of health visitors in the United Kingdom and training for public health work in countries outside the United Kingdom is reviewed. The literature regarding work undertaken by health visitors in various parts of England and Northern Ireland has been studied. A selection of the functions "of the health visitor was made and a study was designed to see whether present training fits the health visitor for the work she is required to do and a detailed survey was made of the work done over a period of twenty consecutive days by 21 health visitors in the Greater London Borough of Merton and by 64 health visitors in the County of Wiltshire The returns showed that in the two areas selected, one urban and one rural, the health visitor is doing basically the same work in all fields of activity, that of giving advice on health to mothers of young families, giving social advice and counselling families where there are problems. This pattern, of the work of the health visitor, whilst remaining the same is moving from defined geographical areas to attachment to groups of general practitioners. From the literature studied it is seen that there is considerable variation in the amount of group health education undertaken. This was also seen in the two areas studied. It was also seen that health visitors are being used increasingly to give health education teaching in schools, either as formal lessons or as group discussions. the population percentages have been studied in Merton and Wiltshire, these figures being obtained from the 1961 census, the population in the under 20 age group being analysed in detail. The comparative birthrates for the years 1964-1967 were studied as the populations in these age groups could affect the numbers of visits of the health visitors who retain the statutory duty to visit all houses where there are young children. Statistical analyses have been undertaken on the work recorded by the health visitors in Merton and Wiltshire and the results appear as tables. Training programmes and the work of public health nurses outside the United Kingdom reveal that no other country has a fieldworker whose function is completely identical with that of the British health visitor. The Council for the Training of Health Visitors set up, under the Health Visitors and Social Work (Training) Act of 1962, drew up a syllabus of training for health visitors The work undertaken by the health visitors in Wiltshire and Merton has been compared with the training at Surrey University. It appears that in all instances, with the exception of clerical work the training fits the health visitors for the work they are required to do.