PEDIATRICS Vol. 39 No. 5 May 1967, pp. 749-755
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MEDICAL HELP AND MATERNAL NURSING CARE IN THE LIFE OF LOW-INCOME FAMILIES

Joel J. Alpert M.D.1, John Kosa Ph.D.1, and Robert J. Haggerty M.D.1

1 The Medical Care Research Unit, Family Health Care Program, Harvard Medical School and the Children's Hospital Medical Center, Boston

A Family Health Calendar was kept by a sample of 78 low-income families for a 4-week period as part of a longitudinal research project. The Calendar presents the mother's perception of her role in family health. The data obtained indicate: (1) about one-fourth of the symptoms experienced by family members receive no sponse; (2) about one in every eight such symptoms receives medical attention; (3) it is almost exclusively the mother who takes action in response to symptoms; (4) this maternal nursing care includes supervision of health status, decision making, administration of home treatment, and arrangement for medical help; (5) the infrequency with which help is given to the mother in nursing care does not seem to be associated with family disorganization but rather with social norms, which define nursing care as belonging in the exclusive domain of the mother.

Submitted on September 30, 1966
Accepted on November 1, 1966