Health and Safety

Health and Safety Issues of the Progressive Era

While the Industrial Revolution of the mid 19th Century radically changed the way Americans lived, worked, and played, there were also many societal issues and healthcare issues that remained. The term Progressive, in this case, means the belief that man can and is morally obligated to solve societal inequities. This can be accomplished most rapidly and equitably by governmental intervention.
Healthcare during this time, can best be described as becoming more science-based, but still relying heavily on folklore and a belief that illness was caused by an imbalance between the ill human and the environment ( Dodds, p 418). Germ theory had yet to receive universal acceptance as the reason for disease. A typical hospital of the 1880’s included bedpans, beds, and little else in the way of equipment (Reagan, p 19). As you might imagine, a facility this stark was mainly for the poor. The middle class and wealthy usually were born at home and died at home. Physicians made house calls to the middle and upper classes and many of the very wealthy employed a nurse to care for the family’s ill or invalid members. By the 1910’s, healthcare had evolved into a science based profession with now mainstream belief in microorganisms as the main cause of disease. The hospitals began to attract more and more of the upper and middle class and by 1920, healthcare was becoming an expected part of life (Reagan, 32).