AbstractsMedical & Health Science

During employment as a registered nurse and while rendering mobile family planning services on farms in the Eastern Transvaal, it was found that appreciable time was spent on non-nursing tasks. The impression gained, was that the people who visited the clinics were only a part of the total farm community and that possibly a mutual communication gap existed between the formal health sector and the community. The purpose of this study was to establish whether the lay health worker should be formally recognised as a member of the primary health team. The research design was a descriptive, quantitative study in a contextual framework. Data was collected using a literature study and a survey using a questionnaire. The research has confirmed that a gap exists between the formal health sector and the rural community. This gap is bridged by the lay health worker, implying that she should be formally recognised as a member of the primary health team.