[Report 1959] / Medical Officer of Health, Maidstone U.D.C. / Borough.
- Maidstone (England). Urban District Council.
- Date:
- 1959
Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Credit: [Report 1959] / Medical Officer of Health, Maidstone U.D.C. / Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![Throughout the year a considerable amount of assistance has been given by many organisations, among them the various Care Committees., the National Assistance Board, The British Red Cross Society, the Tuberculosis After-Care Committee, the Maidstone Persona] Service Society, and the Women5 s Voluntary Services, I would like to stress again the importance of what I consider to be the most pressing need of the elderly - the alleviation of loneliness,, It is quite true that the materia] help of housing, with financial support goes very far in solving the problems of the elderly, but it is quite obvious that the basic problem is loss of touch with the community* This can only be solved by a visiting service which will bring old people once more into the “body of the Kirk™* Although a considerable amount of welfare work is carried out in connection with the handicapped, there remains a large number of people fit enough to take part in communal life, but who are nevertheless withdrawn into themselves by this awful isolation of loneliness. It is with this latter group that I feel the major amount of work remains to be done. I know that there is no organisation in the town which would regard its visiting panel as anywhere near complete; there must also be in this town many people who feel that they would wish to make some contribution of time and effort to help with this work. During the year a Handbook was prepared giving details of voluntary services and the many statutory bodies which are in some way concerned with the welfare of the elderly. Through the good offices of the Head Postmaster, nearly 3,000 copies were distributed through the General Post Office and the sub-offices in Maidstone to all pensioners,, Many comments have been made on the usefulness of such a handbook, and the time has come when a revision will shortly have to be made and a new issue distributed throughout the town.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b29780883_0036.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
