Doctor calls for more structured families
A call has been made for more structured families as a means of promoting health, curbing violence in the society, and easing the national burden of treating avoidable injuries.
Making the appeal, regional technical director at the Southern Regional Health Authority (SRHA) Dr Michael Coombs, urged fathers to be involved in the socialisation of their children, noting that where fathers are absent, there is a greater predisposition to violence, and for children to become perpetrators or victims of violence.
“We have to look at strengthening family life. We can no longer afford to pay lip service. We have to face the fact that research has confirmed that when fathers are not involved in their families, and the families break down, those children are 11 times more likely to demonstrate violent behaviour,” Dr Coombs said.
Addressing the health authority’s first quarterly town hall meeting at the Cecil Charlton Hall in Mandeville, Manchester Monday, said that the disjuncture in families, and the negative impact caused by violence on the health system was not something to be ignored.
He said the breakdown of families was recognised and established to be a foundational cause to a lot of the problems faced by the society, not just in health, but in other social issues.
Regional Director at the SRHA Michael Bent said the forum was about educating for greater productivity. “The mandate of these meetings is to talk health, and to minimise the number of persons going to hospitals. We want to have more persons so educated that we take care of ourselves, and be more productive,” he said.
The meeting gave residents in the parish an opportunity to interact with health personnel in the region, and to have concerns addressed.
Tips on healthy eating, the benefits of physical activity, and ways to prevent and control non-communicable diseases were presented to the audience.