Health visitors are professional individuals engaged in public health work within the domestic setting, predominantly found in countries with state-funded health systems. They are distinct from district nurses, who provide clinical healthcare, domestically. Responsibilities Health visitors are mainly concerned with helping to ensure that people's domestic behaviour is sanitary, hygienic, and beneficial to the welfare of themselves and their families, particularly to their children. As their name suggests, they fulfill their role in the community, by visiting family homes, to give advice and support to all age groups. They have a key role with regard to safeguarding vulnerable people, as they are often the first experts to enter the homes of individuals at risk of abuse and neglect, especially children. A check at two years of age is now a major part of the standard provision. If the health visitor suspects that matters were serious enough to warrant child protection measures, it is their responsibility to initiate the process of intervention. The dual role of advice and inspection has made some families wary of health visitors, despite being appreciative of their potential for assistance. In addition to their early years work, health visitors have now started to run health promotion schemes such as stop-smoking services, and to deliver certain vaccination programmes. Many health visitors are represented professionally by the Community Practitioners and Health Visitors Association, which is part of Unite the Union. History At the time the health visiting profession began, living conditions for the urban poor were often cramped and extremely insanitary, leading to many business owners sending women around to workers' homes to educate their wives about sanitation and nutrition. The initial focus of health visiting was on families with young children. Visits would cover topics such as sanitation, feeding, nutrition, care, and support to both infants and parents. Typically there would be regular visits throughout a child's early years, to provide routine child development checks. Issues of hygiene, malnutrition, or disease, would be corrected with suitable advice, and reported to the relevant authorities where appropriate The role of Health visitors was formalised with the establishment of the Ladies Sanitary Reform Association in 1862. By 1890 some local councils were paying the salaries of Health Visitors. Early twentieth century The role of health visitors was given greater weight following the Notification of Births Acts 1907 and 1915 and the Maternity and Child Welfare Act 1918 which empowered local