About 500 New York families will be the subject of a novel experiment in medicine aimed at preventing disease rather than curing it. The experiment will be carried out in the Montefiore Hospital at which each of the patticipating “patients” will receive periodic health examinations.
In addition to medical examinations, each “patient” will be studied in detail by social workers who will discuss all types of personal problems, nutributionists who will recommend individual diets, and public health nurses to provide education on how to keep fit. Each family will also have the benefits of dentistry, psychology and psychiatry. The project is being sponsored, in addition to the Montefiore Hospital, by Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons, and the Community Service Society.
Dr. E.M. Bluestone, director of the Montefiore Hospital, today said that the families participating in the experiment would be encouraged to discuss their recreational interests, vocational problems, and any other activities bearing on the family welfare. All the participants in the project will be volunteers who are already patients of a group practice unit operated at the Montefiore Hospital under the Health Insurance Plan of Greater New York.
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