The medical aspects of the Framingham Community Health and Tuberculosis Demonstration†

A report of the progress of the Framingham Community Health and Tuberculosis Demonstration, particularly along medical lines, promises to be of value at this time, in view of the emphasis the war is placing upon the need for human conservation, and the heavy burdens the war will throw upon communities everywhere. The necessity for adequately meeting community health obligations is greater than ever before. In tuberculosis work, in particular, it is felt that perhaps the indications of the Framingham experience in its bearing on community health machinery and problems of disease prevention may also have a wider significance. The Framingham Community Health and Tuberculosis Demonstration, initiated in December of 1916, has been in actual operation for a little more than a year. The foundations have been laid and the work is proceeding, stimulated rather than retarded by the World War. Cooperation from government and private agencies has been generous and helpful. Advice and practical assistance have been received from many branches of the government of the United States and of the government of the State of Massachusetts. Many private agencies have contributed to the work, such as the American Museum of Safety, the Russell Sage Foundation, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, etc. Locally, the community has been quick to meet its obligations and to seize opportunities for advancement along health lines. Numerous local agencies have participated in the work, including the town government, private civic associations, business organizations, insurance companies, private charities, churches, clubs, and individual citizens. The Framingham Community Health and Tuberculosis Demonstration, conducted by the National Tuberculosis Association is under the supervision of a special committee on which are represented the National Association, the Massachusetts State Department of Health, the United States Public Health Service, private antituberculosis organizations in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, and Pennsylvania, Framingham health agencies, and the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, the donor of the $100 000 devoted to the work. The activities thus far have demonstrated the necessity and efficacy of an educational, persuasive approach to the community. The work throughout has been ‘Framingham’s opportunity’ and not an experiment ‘on’ the town. Locally, it is Framingham’s experiment, and it will be Framingham’s experiment nationally, if it demonstrates that it is practicable for a community, within reasonable expenditure limits, to ‘sanitate’ itself.