representatives, and it became a matter of pride to have one's baby examined. It was not considered that the health station was in any sense a charity institution. As a result of these unique features and of the general educational program on infant care, conducted by the neighborhood itself through its own physicians, nurses, and elected block representatives, in four months every one of the 297 babies under one year of age was under nursing supervision, and 70 per cent had been given examinations by the medical staff. As babies are born, they at once come under the nursing care. Also, the baby service has been extended to include babies between one and two years of age, and at present every baby under two is under nursing supervision. Of these, 410, or 90 per cent, have visited the health station and have had careful physical examinations, and many are returning at regular intervals for preventive oversight by the physicians, being referred to their family doctors for curative care. This remarkable achievement of reaching nearly 100 per cent of the babies was undoubtedly due to the careful organization of the district, block by block. Each block has its "worker," who is paid a certain amount for the time she gives. The block workers together make up a "council" with a salaried executive, who has an office at the central station of the Social Unit in the district. She is the organizer and leader for her neighborhood. The six nurses, one of whom gives her time to supervision, and five to field work, get all sorts of information from the block workers regarding the conditions and needs of families, and are thus placed in friendly and intimate contact with the people. Up to the time of writing, however, very little has been done to connect the men of the district with the health program. This partly explains why it has failed to reach the Rumanians, Hungarians, and other recent immigrants. No special attempt seems to have been made to reach these immigrants or to see that some one of their group whom they felt to be representative of themselves and their interests was brought into the neighborhood organization. The block workers seem to have the not infrequent "American" attitude of indifference toward them or at least a strong sense of separateness from them. It is apparent that even a small proportion of foreign born may greatly complicate the neighborhood organization of a community. The plain people, who constitute neighborhood organizations, are not likely to be any more free from race or national prejudice, or to be imbued with any higher ideas of practical democracy than the people who work out schemes for neighborhood organization. Therefore the Cincinnati Social Unit has not made a contribution toward the closer interrelation of native and foreign born. It was not established with this particular end in view, nor was the district selected one which would make it possible to accomplish much in this direction. The district does, however, contain a sufficient proportion of recent immigrants to make it wise that a deliberate effort be made to work them effectively and democratically into the neighborhood organization before the term of the experiment is completed. Much of value can be got from the Cincinnati Social Unit for our general program of medical and health care for the foreign born. Its technique of neighborhood organization is capable of general application, with such modifications as would render the scheme simpler and less expensive. The unit has thrown into the foreground one vital principle. It has taken into its confidence, on a democratic basis, the people who are to be served, so that they understand and appreciate the services and participate in the guidance of its policies. Merely to throw this principle into relief, to illustrate it so that it will be talked about and thoughtfully considered all over the country, has been a contribution of high value. |