IT is a p latitu d e th a t you cannot judge a person until

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1 M A K IN G T H E C L IN IC A T T R A C T IV E by L o u is e F r a n k l in B a c h e, A cting Director, Bureau of Health Education, Syracuse Health Department IT is a p latitu d e th a t you cannot judge a person until you have been in his place. U n fo rtu n ately, few of us ever try to p ut ourselves in the other fellow s place and look a t the world from the angle at which he is forced to see it. If we did, m any situations in life m ight be altered and entire histories changed. A person who applies to a city clinic for m edical aid is generally one to whom adversity has come in some form or other. Bad health brings w ith it despondency, and when

2 <^^Cilbank <:J)(Cemorial Fund coupled w ith p overty and circum stances over w hich one has little or no power, it presents the m ost difficult of all situations in life. W e who strive to m ake our hom es a ttra c tiv e, our churches interesting, our business progressive, have done little to introduce these qualities into the clinic. T h a t the clinic m ust be clean and san itary is acknow ledged. T h a t it should be more than this seldom, if ever, occurs to us. T here is som ething about the w hite form ality of the usual clinic room, its lack of color and w arm th, th a t affects the entire atm osphere of the place. If it has taken g reat courage to enter the clinic, it takes even greater courage to stay. T here are clinics, how ever, in which an entirely new order of things is in progress today. In Syracuse we are trying to m ake our clinics as attra c tiv e and inviting as possible. In the health centers in the foreign districts we have resorted to the foreign railroad and steam boat posters with their charm ing color and artistic conceptions. L et us p u t ourselves in the place of the m an to whom m isfortune has com e. T h in k w hat it would m ean if, having been born in P oland or Ita ly, we had journeyed to a new country where m isfortune and sickness had overtaken us. W e are filled w ith d read a t the thought of seeking aid from those whose wavs seem so a t variance w ith ours. i\.t last we are persuaded to visit this strange place called a clinic. T he first thing th a t m eets our eyes is a scene from our own hom eland. Is it not possible th a t the wall of reserve which we have built up because of our fear of the unknow n m ay be underm ined, and th a t we m ay begin to look at the nurse and the doctor as friends who will give us only kind and wise advice? Bu t not for sentim ental reasons alone do we use the wall space of our clinics. W e em ploy them for educational purposes as well. W hile the patient sits and waits for his 8 o

3 8 i ^iarterly 'bulletin October jg2y tu rn to receive treatm en t there is an excellent o p p o rtu n ity to give him some m uch needed h ealth lessons. If, realizing this, we seize the chance to paste the walls over w ith a m ultitude of health posters, we may attra c t the p atien t s atten tio n, b u t he only a jum bledwhich have meaning to this we take a emphasizing health truth im portance of or the value of s u n lig h t a n d display this set Then these re m o v e d a n d N THE WAY TO HEALTH goes away with up m ass of facts little or no him. I'o avoid set of posters one p articular (such as the the right foods, fresh air, e x e rc is e ) a n d for one m onth. I posters are another u nit in the educational plan is p u t up for its term. In this way a constant educational program is going on in the clinics. E xhibits also have their p a rt to play. W e have an exhibit showing a m odel house of h ealth for a fam ily of small m eans. C aptions call attentio n to the desirable features of the house. F or instance, the spectato r is asked to observe th a t there is very small fu rn iture for the very small children; th a t the household fu rnitu re is substan tial b u t not ornate; th a t the draperies will lau n der easily; th a t the pleasantest bedroom and the one w ith the g reatest num ber of windows is given over to the children; th a t the windows are kept open, top and b otto m, in order to assure the right ventilation; th a t the sink is arranged for the com fort of the housewife; th a t screens are used in the windows; and th a t the baby has a crib instead of a cradle. T hus practical advice is not only given but it is illustrated in a way th at makes it easy to

4 ilbank ly^temorial Fund 82 assimilate; and the time spent in w aiting for treatm ents becomes as entertaining as it is instructive. R4CKS of literature m ay serve as another valuable way - of interesting p atien ts in their own h ealth. I t is when a m an is sick th a t he is the m ost ready to receive advice about how to keep well. M ost of the people who seek advice in a clinic are people w ith lim ited educational advantages. T he literatu re prepared for them m ust therefore be sim ple. If you give a patient a book which looks like a textbook because of its m any pages of fine p rin t, you have lost a good opportunity, because he gets nothing out of it. Let the literature provided be clear and to the point in its text; endow it w ith large print; illustrate it profusely; m ake it attra c tiv e and cheerful, and you will again m ultiply the benefits carried aw ay from the clinic. One of the weaknesses in m ost large h ealth organizations is its clinic literature. T here is very little good health m aterial on the m ark et. T here is a q u a n tity o f advertising m aterial, b u t this is generally designed to em phasize the p ro duct for which it stands a t the expense o f com petitive products. To assist health w orkers in Syracuse, we have com piled album s of sam ple health literatu re, suitable for use in the clinics. Before a new sam ple is placed in the album and thus m ade available for ordering, it m ust be approved by a com m ittee which has been designated for this purpose. Sim ilarly, there are few good h ealth posters. One wishes all the health organizations would band together and finance some really artistic products for use in prom oting h ealth. Poor draw ing and com position do m uch to destroy the value of the health lessons by rendering them u n a ttractiv e. Color on posters is found to be a very potent factor in com pelling interest. I t is also found th a t it takes one kind of poster to a ttra c t a child and another kind to interest an adult.

5 83 Quarterly T^ullelin October ig2y H ealth messages m ust be sim ply stated and not too difficult. It is m uch harder to w rite your message in one line than it is to compose an entire essay and it takes more tim e. Since posters are m eant for the m an who reads as he runs and for the m an who gets his h ealth lessons in a sittin g, there is only one rule for the captions, and th a t is th a t they m ust be simple and direct. Flowers lend charm to any room, in the clinic as well as the hom e. W herever flowers or posters are used, w herever literature or exhibits are displayed, extra work is involved on the p art of the w orkers in the clinics. Flowers which are allowed to become dried or w ilted; posters th a t hang by their thum b nails until they are d usty and forlorn; h ealth literature th a t lingers in the rack until it curls a t the ends from sheer ennui; exhibits which are allowed to exist as collectors of d u st, have no place in any educational or health system. If, how ever, through this extra effort these things th a t will m ake the clinics m ore attra c tiv e and instructive are m aintained, extra happiness and h ealth will be brought to those who visit them.

6 ~T^ O S S IB L Y Ihe i] re a LejL eonhibulum o f a ()u<liiiijnu>'hej character that America bae' niaje to public health L>' the development o j the work o f the public health nu/ve H O N. W IL L IA M H, W EL C H, M.D.