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The Huron Expositor, 1975-05-22, Page 17We seek trouble wherever it occurs. Wherever people ' need us. Down in Skid Row. in the prisons. Amongst the elderly, the destitute and the downtrodden, Wherever we can offer our Christian help. • Sometimes, it isn't pleasant. But it must be done. And we need your help to do it. Money. Donations to the Red Shield Appeal. Your gifts get us into trouble. .And they help get a lot of people out of trouble. If you don't need our help we need yoursDime ;Aii'vg); Red Shield Appeal SEAFORTH BLITZ Sundt:1y a#terivon, May 25th Carried 'out by members of Seaforth Branch No. 156, Royal Canadian Legion GEO. D. HAYS, WILFRED TITFORD, President Chairman Special Events • • r.XpD,$ItQlr • • By J.'D.Scott Mac lssaac Choose summer camp carefully Wire Whizzer What child does not like to make noise? This simple safe toy will give all sorts of weird sounds. Some parents may wish to ignore this suggestion. Materials 1-Piece of ordinary string approximately one yard long 1-Sturdy eleastic banc 1-Piece of sturdy wire about eight inches long , Instructions 1, Bend- the wire in the shape -shown in the diagram. you can bend it by shaping around a large tin can. Now, using a pair of pliers, bend the two ends of the wire to form two hooks. 2. Tie the string to the wire very tightly. Make sure it will not come _undone. 3. Stretch the elastic band across the two ends of the wire. 4. Y our wire whizzer is now ready to use by simply whirling it around. With summer time fast approaching the annual quest ion of deciding whether or not to Send your children to a summer camp must be answered. After this" comes the next question of selection which camp to send your children. Summer camps come in all sizes, shapes, purposes and of course different prices. Almost every child, can get something a, from attending the proper camp. For inner city children they give a much needed exposure to mother nature and a breath of fresh air. Children living in, thinly populated rural areas get an opportunity to work and play with large numbers of children, thus helping to develop peer group relations. Children from all backgrounds can get an opportu nity to learn about important survival techniques as well as skills from many different training progrms. Often the time spent in summer camp provides a healthy leave of ibsence from preisures of family life. If parents, decide to send their children to summer camp and after they have found a camp which meets their financial range, they should be careful td ensure that the camp will meet the child's needs and that he will enjoy it. The following is a brief checklist of points which should be looked into when choosing a camp. (a) Nutrition - What sort of diet is planned? Are the menus drawn up to provide good food value and interst or are they simply the cheapest and easiest to prepare? When and how often do children eat? Are basic health rules followed in preparing and serving of food? What is the eating area like? (b) sleeping accommodations - What types of shelters are used and are they dry, insect free and well lit? What types of beds and $, mattresses are available? What are the sleeping hours? (c) Camp rules - What are the rules of conduct expected at the camp? How and what are the punishments for breaking,„ the rules? Will your child be able to live under , the rules? (d) Camp activities - What are the activities planned at the camli and will your child enjoy them? Is there sufficient facilities and equipment available so that every 'child can participate? (not one bow and arrow for twenty children) What sort of training programs are planned and will your child get something from them. (e) Camp leaders - What is the ratio of leaders to campers? (any la greater than one to fifteen is questionable) What calibre of training and experience do leaders pdssess? How old are the leaders? How were leaders chosen to work at the camp? lbo leaders have enough training to fun the training programs? Who has organized the camp and how is it administrat ed? (f) Campers - How many campers will there be at one time? (generally a large camp cannot provide enough individual attention to each child) What is the age range of the camp? (it is usually best when young children are with young children not with older children) What are the socio-economic backgreues of the children and will your child get along with the other children? Children if they are not simply "dumped in a camp", can get a lot from them if parents take time to select the best one for them. The $1,5 0 Ontario Home Buyers Grant. Who will get it? How? When? Why? Ontario understands how important it is to have a home of your own. And we'd like to help out with a grant of $1,500 toward your first home. It's part of an overall plan to make more homes available in Ontario. And stim- ulate our economy. So it's good for all 'of us.' The answers to your questions can be found in a hand booklet specially prepared to help you( mderstand every detail of the Grant. For your free copy, write to: Minist ) ' of Revenue, Ontario Horne Buyers Grant, Queen's Park, Toronto M7 A 2C9. For more information, telephone us (free of charge) by dialing "0" and asking the operator for Zenith 8.2000. Residents within the Metro Toronto local calling area should dial 965-8470. • Arthur Meen Veaturer of Ontario Minister of Revenue - Ontario William Davis W. Darcy McKeough Premier FH1-115gta By Shirley J, Keller It was a long day - a gruelling day - a frustrating day; it was a day to discuss the Lalonde White Paper and the Mustard Report. . More properly called "A New Perspective on the Health of Canadians" and "Report of the Health Planning Task Force", the two documents had enough meat in them to occupy an entire morning and afternoon of discus- sion at Goderich Psychiatrid Hospital, Wednesday - and then some. But as Phoebe Stanley, Direc- tor of Nursing at Stratford general Hospital so appropriately said in her 4 p.m. summarization of the day's events, "What can I I. say - except that we're in the midst of change." Mrs. Brenda Wattle, Editqr of "Canada's Mental Health" and a representative from the federal Ministry of Health, had her work cut out for her to condense and explain the White Paper in the stead of the Hon. Marc Lalonde who was unable to be present: She did a fine job - she pointed up the health needs of the nation as outlined in the report. She talked about better access to health care, reducing mental nd physical disease through various , means including some- thing called "modification of life style", and well orgaUized com- munity health care services. She said there is great potential for prevention of disease, and added that the high risk segments of the population must be identi, fled. Mrs. Wattis spoke about the five strategies to achieve this end; the health promotion strategy; the regulatory strategy; the research strategy; the health-care effectiveness 'strategy; the goal setting strategy, She touched pn diseqes of choice resulting from things like smoking and drinking and drug abuse; diseases of affluence like over-eating and under-exercising; diseases of neglect. . She advocated greater public awareness, long range. health planning and greater emphasis on preventative medicine. She mentioned her own special con- cern that of mental health and the need to recognize the causes of disturbences which finally tor- ment and hospitalize an increas- ing number of people every year. And then she stopped. She had to stop. For the White Paper - undoubedly a costly document does really little more than identify problems. It doesn't provide solutions. As one seminar goer so aptly stated during coffee that morning: ' "all know what the problems are. What we need is answers." In the afternoon, Dr. H. Humphrys, a family medical •practitioner from St. Mary's who is also a member of the Health Planning Task Force in Ontario took the spotlight to talk about the Mustard "'Report. He spoke long and tirelessly. Patients are important Among his opening remarks was one which touched the he of most people present, including a strong re sentation of n rses. and allied alth care w ers. He said the individual ,p•tient is of prime importance to the authors of the Mustard eport. He went on hen to k about eventual a a :amati of heath and social s; optimal health care in financial resources; aval ility of health care services; accessibility" of health care services; continuity'of health care services; co-ordina- tion of health care services. He said the proposals in the Mustard Report are not revolu- tionary but evolutionary - and he said the process could take as much as 10 to 15 years. Dr. Humphrys talked about grouping health care workers into prime care sector. He mentioned renaming hospitals. He sugges- ted Health Care CentreS would be a more appropriate title if the Mustard Report is implemented. He spoke about "professional" health care - and then added thiS does not imply necessarily that the "professional" should be a physician. "We must utilize the skills of allied health care workers to a greater extent to keep costs down," he said. "We' must encourage a team approach and a team spirit," he insisted. He spoke about the need for health care centres to make money - turn a profit. He suggested a share system for pay ment of workers - a kind of fee schedule according to responsi- bility and type of service rendered. He admitted he didn't know just how this would be done. Dr. Humprbys spoke about the probability of seven regions and seven regional directors in the province; the districts with their District •Health Councils within each region; the areas with their Area Management Boards within the Districts in. the Regions.- At the helm, quite naturally, is the Ontario Ministry of Health. He said regional directors were not to be dictators as some had predicted they might become. Dr. Humphrys -saw these people reflecting . the needs of the District, the wishes of the District Health Councils, the thoughts of the Area Management Boards. He saw the regional- directors taking the basic, grass-root con- cern of the people to Toronto. , He' explained District Health Councils would • be planning bodies ,responsible for the development of prime care facili- ties for the health needs of the district and provision and opti- mum use of such health facilities. Area Management Boards, says Dr. Humphrys, are nothing more sinister than hospital boards with added responsiblities. He told the audience hospital boards have done such a great job in the past, they have shown they can handle more decision-Making power. These area management board would have fiscal responsi- bility,', provide leadership, sup- port prim a and secondary health care sectors and recom: mend to District Health Councils. "They would be operating arm of the District Health Councils," said Dr. Humphrys. F011owing both speeches, morning and afternoon, the reac- tion panel chaired by Angela Dawson, staff development offi- cer at Goderich Psychiatric Hospi- tal had its say. Panelists were Norman Hayes, Executive Director of Wingham District Hospital; Marion McGee, Associate Professor of Nursing, Uniyersity of Western Ontario; Dr. Frank Mills, Huron COtinty Medical Officer of Health; Robert Watson, Social Services, Strat- ford; Pat Wheeler, co-ordinator of volunteer services at GPI-I; and Shirley Keller, Signal-Star editor. Then there was a free-wheeling question period when the audience could react to what had been said, And there was plenty of reaction - Phoebe Stanley called it a "display of fireworks." It was abundantly clear from the day's deliberations that finances were a major concern for a great number of people. An affluent society this is ... but in the throes of mounting inflation everyone is aware of the high cost of everything. More than that, they are interested in controlling expenses. 'Perhaps the most pertinent comment on this matter came from Robert Watson of Social and Community Services in Stratford. Mr. Watson said, "Costs are going right out of sight. Nobody wants to talk to anyone elat. They all have their own little empire. But expenses must only increase with delivery of services." It was pointed rout by both the panel and some members of the audience who spoke that the programs, for instance, adye- cated by the federal ministry of health in the Lalonde White Paper are very, very costly., Perhaps too costly for the amount of actual value they will ulltimate, ly provide to the people of the nation. While it was Aenerally agreed preventing disease is of treinen- dous importance because it will save lives as well as money, there was widely varying opinions about how preventative measures can he successfully introduced to society ..., and just hoW this massive program could be incor- porated into a budget already bulging with higher cots for defence and roads and housing and justice and every other ministry of Canada. "We must spend on prevention or we will never gain on the curative end insisted Dr. Mills. He expressed his concern that less and less of the health budget every year is , being spent on prevention of disease. Mr. Hayes agreed to some degree. He put it another way, though by saying that hospitals filled to over-flowing give testi- mony every day to this nation's failure to prevent disease and accidents and emotional pres- sures. What's needed• is to modify the behaviour of an entire nation, according to Marion McGee ... and that's a monumental task'. She referred to Mrs. Wattie's long and rather impressive list of films, ' pamphlets, books and periodicals which are designed, to educate the massess ... and she • questioned their effectiveness. Reverse Psychology A case in point, according to, Mrs. McGee, is the anti-smoking campaign waged with ads and brochures and posters aimed at teenagers in particular. An all out effort on the part of communi- ty health nurses in conjunction with the schools was made to warn teenagers of the dangers of smoking ... and to discourage • them from taking the habit. Surveys taken before, during and after the campaign gave the answer to the efectiveness of thebattle, Mrs. McGee said. "Smoking had increased," she stated slowly and emphatically. Heads nodded around the packed auditorium. She indicated that the educa- tional' material may bre too negative. "Accentuating the positive is a bettei way to do it than emphasiz- ing the negative," she said. Heads once again nodded in approval. Of course! instead of pointing out the dangers of smoking, perhaps a more, effecitve anti- smoking campaign would be to focus on the non-smoker who' is free of a nagging • cough and nicotine-browned fingers and that disfiguring fag in the mouth! Coming into focus now is the present provincial government campaign to "mix a little thinking with your drinking". Gurpal Thind, director of nurs- ing for the Huron County Health Unit pointed out that while these educational aids via the govern- ment are excellent, they are not always available. She said public health nurses were "fed up" and "frustrated" because these films, books and pamphlets produced at considerable cost to the taxpayers were just not getting into the hands of the people for whom they were intended. • Some people felt that not enough was said in the Lalonde report about the mental health area of health care. Several persons spoke •about the desper- ate need' for family counselling. It was pointed out again and again the absolute importance of the family unit in the health of a nation. Over and over the need for strong bonds in the family were touched upon. Family counselling according to Dr. Humphrys in the morning session, should be done by- the health professionals; others thought schools should take do the responsiblity to teach values andmorals and attitudes in Kindergarten and the junior grades when young minds are most impressionalbe; still more thought this work must be done in the home and so teenagers should be educated in parenthood courses to prepare them for the life ahead of them. This-line of discussion brought up, in Dr. Humphry's mind at least, the need for doctors to spend more time with their patients. "Instead of treating a patient's ulcer over and over again, why not treat the cause of the ulcer?" Dr. Humphrys reasoned. He said that in a great many instances, a heart to heart talk between doctor and patient could be as beneficial as medication ... in some cases, more beneficial. Doctors' Salaries Dr. Humphrys charged that since doctors are now being paid for services by the provincial government, the most financially rewarding situation is to see as many patients as possible in „de .., and to keep them co g back ddit; • care and treatment, "And the health care consumer has no -way of knowing just heti/ much investigation of a certain problem is really necessary," said Dr. Humphrys. He stressed his belief that some change in the method of payment of physicians would alleviate the complaint of many health care consumers that doc- tors, are tbo . busy -to talk to paitentS• who really have problems. The whole area of doctors' salaries was explored to some degree during the session. One suggestion was made that per- haps doctors should be renting , facilities at hospitals where they earn ,a good portion of their salary such operating rooms where expen e equipment is provided to docto s free of charge, paid for through the taxes of the people. It was pointed out that at one time,,, doctors did buy their own equipment for use in the hospitals but this practice - like many others - was discontinued when the provincial government began footing the bills. it was also made clear that before OHIP, doctors were being paid directly by their patients and in some cases, provided many services without remuneration. Now that " the government picks up the physician's tab, so to speak, the doctor gets paid for nearly every visit in his office. It was suggested that since paying customers are no longer subsidiz- ing the doctor for those who do not pay, the fee per Patient (visit) should be reduced. Dr. Humphrys admitted to, the audience that the payment of doctors' fees under the proposed Mustard Report system was the "toughest nut of all to crack." He further adniitted that the vague guidelines in the Mustard Report for paying all health care workers Under the proposed system were not getting a whole lote clearer even after months of deliberation. Mrs. Pat Wheeler, speaking as a health care consumer and a wife and mother, said she /liked to believe that the 24-hour a day, seven-days a week service to which the Mustard Report referred was practical and possible. She did question the period of time that was suggested for the evolution of they system - 10 to 15 years. She' wondered if the system would survive the evolutional process or would it be drastically altered as time went by. Mrs. Wheeler took the' oppor- tunity to point out that health care (Continued on Page 4) th cholov What happening i d4cus4ed. 111 G cierich