Official proceedings of the annual meeting: 1923

HOSPITAL SOCIAL SERVICE IN FRANCE-NOUFFLARD

33

regularly to the consultation. She visits them at home so as to know exactly the
difficulties that have to be met and put aside. The worker encourages the mothers
to nurse their babies. She exerts her influence on the mother who is tempted to abandon her child, by drawing up, pencil in hand, a budget, showing that it is not impossible for a woman, alone, to bring up a baby, with the co-operation of private and
official assistance. When there are other children in the family, the worker sees that
they are admitted to temporary homes, while the mother is in the hospital, and tries
by every means to have her reach the time of her confinement in the best physical and
mental condition.
In the tuberculosis wards the first object of the social worker is to put the patient's
mind at rest about his family during his absence from home. After having had the
children examined, she sends them to the country, if necessary, and sees that at home
elementary hygiene is carried out. The social worker visits the patient's employers,
asks for a relief during his stay in the hospital, and tries to obtain assistance to send
him to a sanatorium or convalescent home when the time comes.
In the hospital wards the worker creates an atmosphere of mutual confidence and
sympathy by being the link between the patient and his family or all other organization.
When the patient returns home, she tries to find appropriate work for him and refers
him to the district dispensary through the Medical Confidential Exchange. This
exchange was organized by Major Duffield, statistician of the Rockefeller Foundation. We are using it now in eight hospitals, and have reported to it from our tuberculosis section alone 2,978 cases utterly unknown to the dispensaries.
In the children's hospitals the social worker assists at every out-patient consultation, and sees that the prescriptions are properly understood and carried out at home.
The worker teaches the mother how to prepare diet, how to make a poultice, how to
bathe a sick child, etc. She relieves the mother by finding temporary homes for the
other children, so as to allow her to give up all her time to the small patient. She
finds work for the father if he has none. The social worker is much appreciated
by the doctors, whom she assists daily by giving in a few words full particulars
about the case.
Our hospital work extended this year to 8,105 cases, which were taken in charge
and followed; 11,894 visits were made at home; 1,282 children were placed in foster
homes or sent to the country; ioo mothers with babies found situations; 71 infants
were put out to nurse under medical supervision; 6i infants on the point of being
forsaken were kept by their mothers; 3,645 cases suspected of tuberculosis or venereal
diseases were sent to the dispensaries; 632 patients were sent to private sanatoriums;
232 patients discharged from sanatoriums after recovery were provided with situations.
Through our workers' personal efforts, 6i,500 francs were raised for the direct benefit
of the patients or their families.
The following cases have been followed up until they needed our assistance no
longer:
Mme S., who has already four children, gives birth on November i5 to three
boys. She lives in the suburbs, in two small rooms, which became entirely insufficient
with the three extra babies. The father has incipient tuberculosis. It being impossible to find better lodgings, we decided with the president of the Associations des
Familles Nombreuses to rent near their present home, for 450 francs a year, a piece of
ground, where we instal the family in two postal wagons equipped as a home. The