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. In the UK, since 1945, health visitors are required to be Registered Nurses or Midwives who have undertaken further training to work as part of a primary health care team.
In 1977 In 1977 there were 10623 health visitors in the UK. In 2015 there were 12292 in England and Wales, an increase from 10,046 in 2000. In 2000 there were 297 children under 5 per health visitor, a figure which rose to 419 in 2011.
They 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 fulfil 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.