Health in California : California health survey.

  • California Department of Public Health
Date:
[1957]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Health in California : California health survey. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    52/100 page 50
    episodes of smog in Los Angeles during the fall of 1954. The first report on air pollution by the Department, “Clean Air for California,” incorpo- rated this finding with the notation that the meas- ures used were quite crude for the purpose and that further work should be done. The Legislature appropriated funds for continu- ing study of the possible health effects of air pol- lution, including that based upon population sur- veys. Accordingly the Department undertook dur- ing 1956 a statewide household sample survey to describe: 1. The general level of smog awareness in the different communities in California, includ- ing descriptions of those communities where a large or a small proportion of their popula- tion reported the presence of smog. 2. The extent to which smog is seen as a dis- rupting element in the lives of residents in various Communities. 3. The specific kinds of effects the population attributes to smog. 4. The characteristics of people reporting vari- ous smog effects including factors determin- Maintenance of child health is a basic public health goal. Activities directed toward prevention of specific diseases, improvement of nutrition, and detection and correction of handicapping condi- tions have occupied a prominent place in the pro- grams of state and local health departments. As one means of providing such services, health de- partments have developed child health clinics or conferences. Here a physician, assisted by nurses and other personnel, examines well children and offers preventive health supervision. Over the years the character of services in the child health conference has changed according to health needs. In the beginning emphasis was placed on safe milk for babies; later, specific immunization against smallpox, diphtheria and pertussis became an im- portant feature; recently, an increasing amount of attention has been given to accidents and to the emotional aspects of health. Education of the public and of the health professions has always been an important aim of child health conferences. The illness picture among children has changed remarkably in recent years with public acceptance of milk pasteurization, immunizations for child- hood diseases, increased understanding of nutrition in the early years, and other elements of health protection. Because of these changes the Bureau of Maternal and Child Health of the State Depart- ment of Public Health has begun a thorough eval- uation of child health conferences as they are now being conducted in California. The Department 50 ing variability in individual perceptions of the effects of smog. Tabulations of the results of this 1956 survey have not yet been completed. The 1956 survey is providing an additional means of studying the health effects of air pollu- tion, a way to test the impression held by many clinicians that smog aggravates the condition of patients with respiratory disease. From the survey population, a roster of persons with bronchitis and related disorders is being assembled. Information obtained by interview with the patients and (with the patients’ permission) their physicians will per- mit the division of the patients into two groups of comparable age, disease—severity and other characteristics—one group residing in a smog area and the other in a smog-free area. Followup will be maintained for several years on the course of illness in the two groups. This study will, it is expected, yield data indicating whether or not bronchitis patients who live in a smog area suffer greater progression of their disease and more ill effects from it, than do similar patients who live in smog-free area. received a grant from the U. S. Children’s Bureau for this purpose. The objective of the evaluation is to determine the present health deficits and health maintenance requirements of young children, how clearly the present child health supervisory serv- ices are directed toward these deficits and re- quirements, how well they are being met by the services and how well these services are being utilized by the public. To assist in carrying out this task, the staff for this study requested that the California Health Survey supply data on the nature and extent of illness among young children. Another use of Survey data was made in the compilation of statistical material for the Maternal and Child Health Chapter of the 1956 Biennial Plan of the State Department of Public Health. This plan as a whole is submitted to the U. S. Public Health Service and the Maternal and Child Health Chapter to the Children’s Bureau. These data indicate the kinds of information becoming available to guide and evaluate programs. The table on page 51 provides an example of in- formation available from the California Health Survey. (Also see Appendix E, Tables 5, 10 and 12.) These data illustrate how different an em- phasis in prevention and treatment is necessary for children as contrasted with that of the adult pop- ulation. Respiratory infections, digestive disorders and accidents were major causes of disability for both the preschool (0-4) and the school age (5-14) children.
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