Single parents need home visits by health visitors

BMJ 1998;317:1390 ( 14 November )

Letters

Single parents need home visits by health visitors

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EDITOR $---$ Fleming and Charlton have shown that children of single parents receive fewer immunisations and have more accidentsthan children in other households.¹ Both of these areas areregarded as priorities for intervention by community servicesundertaking child health surveillance,² and Fleming and Charltonconsider that single parents should be particularly targeted.

I have undertaken a survey of baby clinics run by health visitors to determine who attends. These clinics are easily accessibleto parents, with no appointment required, and are seen by thehealth visitors as providing an opportunity to offer advice onfeeding and growth, other health promotion advice, and opportunisticimmunisations.³ I looked at two urban practices in west London,which had (from 1991 census figures) 3.4% of households with singleparents, 8% unemployment, and 85% of households classified asowner occupied. Information was obtainable for 418 (96%) of the434 children aged under 2 years for attendances at the . . . [Full text of this article]

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Morbidity and healthcare utilisation of children in households with one adult: comparative observational study: D M Fleming and J R H Charlton
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