News and Notes
F?r Services to Mental Health ” 3d^e awarding of a D.B.E. to Miss Evelyn Fox?for fn *ears Hon. Secretary of the Central Association str Rental Welfare?is a fitting recognition of outUr? serv’ce given to the mental health movement. , with all the constituent bodies of the National ssociation for Mental Health she was closely cons cted from the outset and in their final amalgamation A fred a leading and indispensable part, her i-^ her heavy responsibilities are now lightened, j . hnk with the Association’s activities is still close and ls a matter of satisfaction to her fellow-workers that qJa Member of the Executive Council and of its various c ^rciittees, her long experience and her wise counsel Ptipue to be at their disposal.
to tV-S Perhaps worthy of note that the citation attached health” Wa runs as f?^ows: ” f?r services to mental has h “” *s t^ie ^rst occasi?n on which such a term a Br P used ? If so, it may surely be taken as indicating in th?Wlng awareness ?f the contribution which workers of th mental health movement are making to the welfare “e community.
^le’ Birthday Honours qJ? ^?r- Norwood East (formerly one of H.M. Prison 41 f0 /H’ssioners) who has been awarded a Knighthood services to study of criminal psychology to Univ ” ? Henderson, Professor of Psychiatry, Edinburgh man erfsity> a’so knighted, and to Mr. P. Barter (Chair^ould r ?oar(I ?f Control) who becomes a C.B., we a further offer our warm congratulations.
j^dsor Mental Health Association The Is Association was formed in September 1946. best t rga~’zers decided that with a new Group it was and ? er. something definite to prospective members fortni^?rdin?’y arranged a programme of thirteen cover?? y ‘ectures throughout the winter. The subjects Adoip Were Mental Health at Home, at School and in ^arriaCenCe’ ^hild Guidance, Family Relationships, Mental tr Delinquency, the Medical Aspect, and frorj, ‘ Health as a Social Service; the final lecture was introdi Moral and Religious point of view. An toiy address was given by Dr Doris Odium.
Other speakers included Dr Kenneth Soddy, Miss Norah M. Gibbs, Miss Robina S. Addis, Dr W. I. Doherty, Dr Issac Frost, Dr Ethel Dukes, Dr Gerald Caplan and Professor L. W. Grensted. Originally the Association was formed for the winter season only but at its final meeting in April, it was unanimously decided by the members to put it on a permanent footing and to elect a Committee. It was also decided to hold a short Educational Conference in Windsor which took place during the Whitsun week. The programme of lectures at the Conference was mainly designed for teachers and social workers, and the delegates included a party from Manchester. The Conference was a great success and it is hoped to repeat it, as well as to provide a further course of lectures, during the coming winter.
The Association hopes later to be affiliated to the National Association for Mental Health with which it has been in close touch throughout.
This is an example of voluntary enterprise and initiative which might well be followed by other areas and we should like to take the opportunity of congratulating the Joint Organizers, Mr. George Foster and Mr. J. H. Wallis, (a contribution from whom is published on another page) on their energy and initiative.
Association of Parents of Backward Children The founding of this Association and of the News Letter circulated monthly to its members, is an example of individual enterprise on the part of an overburdened but undaunted mother of a defective child, which should be specially commended.
The venture arose out of correspondence in the Nursery World which strikingly disclosed the isolation and helplessness felt by parents of this particular group of handicapped children and their desperate need of help and advice, and the number of letters which have since reached its Founder and Editor is an indication of the support awaiting her.
The Association is out to champion the cause of educationally subnormal children (particularly of those excluded from school) and to promote community care, Occupation Centres, and other forms of help, based on “a recognition by all engaged on this work that these children are not a sub-human species but have human rights and feelings to be considered The two roneoed issues of the News Letter so far published contain?in addition to letters from parents? items of news, book reviews, and an editorial written in an interesting and vigorous way. There is, perhaps not unnaturally, an inadequate appreciation of the difficulties with which Local Authorities have been faced during the war years and are still faced, so that even the most enterprising of them are unable to carry out plans the need for which they fully accept; and secondly, no mention has yet been made of the activities of Local Voluntary Associations for Mental Welfare who, for many years, have laboured to promote the welfare of defective children and the opening of Occupation Centres. Attention might also, it is suggested, be drawn in a subsequent issue to the willingness of the National Association for Mental Health to help parents in need of advice about Schools, Homes or methods of training.
With this one note of criticism, we wish for this gallant effort, every success, and assure it of our sympathy.
Further information may be obtained from The Editor and Founder, 8 Westfield Avenue, Harpenden, Herts.
Family Service Units
We are glad to publish the following announcement which has been sent to us by the General Secretary of this new organization. Many of our readers will’ know of the pioneer work from which it has sprung, through the account of it given in “Problem Families “, which we reviewed in a previous issue. Further particulars may be obtained from the Officer of the Organization, 85 Clarendon Road, London, W.ll.
Lord Balfour of Burleigh, who had been impressed with the magnitude and urgency of the problems arising out of the below-standard family through his work in Housing, recently contacted Pacifist Service Units, and after discussion took the initiative in calling together representatives from London, Liverpool and Manchester to explore the possibilities of developing the work. At this meeting it was unanimously felt that the service pioneered by P.S.U. should be established on a permanent basis, to do the work on a wider scale, and under the auspices of a more representative body. It was decided to call the new body Family Service Units and a responsible National Committee was formed with the co-operation of such organizations as the National?Council of Social Service, the Family Welfare Association, N.S.P.C.C., the National Association for Mental Health, the British Federation of Social Workers, the Women’s Group on Public Welfare and the Salvation Army. Individual members of the National Committee include the Archbishop of York; Cardinal Griffin; Mr. John Watson, Chairman of the South East London Juvenile Court; Sir Lancelot Keay, City Architect and the Director of Housing, Liverpool; Rt. Hon. Margaret Bondfield; Mr. Seebohm Rowntree. The Honourable David Bowes Lyon was appointed Chairman of this Committee. The co-operation of the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education, the Home Office and the Assistance Board was promised. The Committee plan first to take responsibility for the existing work in Liverpool and Manchester, and then to establish a new Unit in London as soon as personnel becomes available. The work of the committee will continue for some time to be experimental and among its objects is a comprehensive investigation into the nature, extent and causes of this form of social subnormality.
It is estimated that a sum of ?15,000 is needed to maintain these Units for an initial experimental period of two years. The financial response is not yet sufficient to warrant the full establishment of the scheme.
We believe that with the help of all those interested in the problem this sum can be raised. There is an urgent need for the work and we know it has a strong appeal to the general public.
Community Care of Epileptics Employment —————————– The Disabled Persons’ Employment Corporation Ltd. set up under the Disabled Persons’ (Employment) Act of 1944, to provide sheltered employment for severely handicapped workers on the Register, plans for the establishment of some 50 “Remploy” Factories within the next twelve months, a small proportion of which has already been set up.
The experience of one of these?at Salford, Lancashire ?is particularly interesting to those concerned with the employment needs of epileptics. It was at first deemed necessary to separate this particular group of handi’ capped workers, from the other employees who, it was feared, might resent or fear their presence. After a short trial period, however, these apprehensions were found to be ungrounded. The dividing partition was taken down and the six epileptics joined their fellows and were readily accepted by them. It was found moreover that fits (of which careful records were kept) decreased to a remarkable extent as a result of the occupation and companionship provided by the Factoryand that there was a notable increase in happiness and stability.
It should be recorded that during training under this scheme, workers are paid at the rate of Is. 9d. an hour* which gradually rises to the ordinary Trade Union rate if full productivity is attained. Provision is, however made for the continuance of a lower rate if a norma1 degree of efficiency cannot be reached.
We shall watch with great interest the progress of tne epileptic group employed in other ” Remploy ” factories and shall hope, in a later issue, to give some further account of the experiment.
Convalescent Home
The National Association for Mental Health hopeS that its Convalescent Home for epileptics?in AshdoWfl Forest?will shortly be able to open its doors. The Association is glad to be able to record a genero^ gift of ?800 received from the King Edward Hospif3 Fund to help to meet capital outlay on the Home, wit11 a promise of possible further help.
National Health Service Act
A circular issued by the Ministry of Health request Local Health Authorities (County Councils and Count; Boroughs) to submit proposals not later than Octobe^ 31st, for carrying out certain provisions of the new Ac (which is now to come into force on July 5th, 1948)… Included in the relevant Sections is that whic” empowers such Authorities to provide “care and afte’j care ” for ” persons suffering from illness or menta defectiveness ” (Section 28). By definition (Section ” illness ” includes ” mental illness and any injury 0 disability requiring medical or dental treatment 0
1 nursing and it has been ascertained that the projected community care can cover the categories of neurotic and unstable persons, psychopaths, psychotics and those who are mentally subnormal, but not certifiable under the Lunacy, Mental Treatment or Mental Deficiency Acts. An opportunity is thus given for the development of greatly extended statutory mental health service of which the After-Scheme for psychiatric casualties discharged from the Services carried on by the National Association for Mental Health for the past four years, ls a Possible prototype. The Association is giving close ‘i. attention to this question and is prepared to place its experience and its available facilities at the disposal of local authorities and other bodies concerned, if invited I to do so.
It should be noted that under Section 20(2) of the Act, Proposals made by local authorities must be submitted to every voluntary organization in the area which Provides services of the type concerned, and that within two months of receiving such proposals, the organization may make recommendations for their modification.* A Circular issued by the Ministry on June 17th, announces that for the purpose of administering the , unctions transferred from the Board of Control, to the jVJmister, in accordance with Section 49 of the Act, a Rental Health Division of the Ministry of Health has een established. To this the members and staff of the ?ard have been assigned, but the Board itself will ‘ . tin lie to function as before in regard to ” quasiJudicial functions relating to the liberty of the subject “. Both the Mental Health Division and the Board will oP^ate from 32 Rutland Gate, Knightsbridge, London, o.vv 7
Approved Schools for Maladjusted Children I ^he National Association for Mental Health has been ;*sked by the Home Office to establish two Approved chools?one for senior boys and one for senior girls? p, .^eet the needs of children dealt with under the ‘ in n and Young Persons Act, 1933, found to be of special psychological handling and treatment, th a *nvitation has been accepted by the Council of “e Association and the work will be begun as soon as onuses, equipment and staff can be secured. me felt tflat suc’1 a venture will constitute an experioutt m Juvenile Delinquency likely to be of ablS ^ value, and we hope in our next issue, to be lyj? to report that substantial progress in the pre?nary stages of preparation has been made.
^ School for Speech Defects
treat*6 ^rst School exclusively for the education and has l1601 ?f children suffering from speech disorders, Will hn ?Pened in Surrey, where 30 children at a time tWo c taken for periods varying from two months to defect6^ accort*’ng to the nature of their particular toV8 considered that there are four main groups likely (2) p?? from this provision: (1) Aphasic children, l Palat Jen wh? have undergone operations for cleft ularlv tK Children witfl articulation defects (particment i ^PSe ?t’ue to cerebral palsy) uncomplicated by Child deficiency or serious physical disability. (4) djSorien offering from certain other types of speech i treattn neet^ng full clinical investigation and intensive The School is approved by the Ministry of Education and the majority of children are likely to be sent by Education Authorities. It is being run in conjunction with the Speech Therapy Department of the West End Hospital for Nervous Diseases and will provide for resident students in the subject. The premises have been given by two generous donors, but an appeal for donations towards the cost of furnishing and accommodation is being made.
Further particulars can be obtained from the Hon. Secretary, Moor House School, Hurst Green, Oxted, Surrey.
Homes and Hostels for Defectives
The National Association has re-opened at Bognor Regis, one of the Holiday Homes which, before the War, were so popular and met such an urgent need. Accommodation is now fully booked until the middle of November, and applications for 1948 are already in hand. Parties can be received from Mental Deficiency Institutions, Occupation Centres, Agricultural Hostels, Colonies for Epileptics and Mental Hospitals. A generous gift of ?600 has been received towards the expenses of a Hostel for high-grade mentally defective girls and women who, after a period of institutional training, are considered suitable for daily domestic employment. It is hoped that suitable premises may be secured in Sussex, preferably in an area containing a hospital in need of domestic help.
Training Centre for Neglectful Mothers
The Elizabeth Fry Training Centre fot Mothers convicted of Child Neglect, to be opened shortly, is an experiment which will be watched with great interest and sympathy by all who are concerned with the preservation of family life.
The Centre will accommodate six mothers on probation who have agreed to enter voluntarily as an alternative to a prison sentence. Each applicant for admission will be given an intelligence test plus a medical and psychiatric examination before being accepted, in order to ensure their capability for benefiting from the training given.
Mothers will be accompanied by their younger children and will stay at the Centre from 3 to 6 months. Separate rooms will be allocated to them so that individual home-making can be taught, and the staff will consist of a resident warden and wife, an assistant warden, and a nurse holding a nursery nurse’s diploma. The services of a visiting psychiatrist and psychiatric social worker will be available, and the latter will co-operate with the Probation Officer in maintaining the mothers’ ties with husbands and older children. The scheme, in its experimental stage, must be financed entirely from voluntary funds, and the ?3,000 collected up to date can only cover expenses for one year. Further particulars can be obtained from the Hon. Secretary, Elizabeth Fry Centenary Fund, 21 Bloomsbury Street (Room 220), London, W.C.I.
Industrial Neurosis Unit The attention of our readers is called to the following information kindly provided by the Medical Superintendent of the Sutton E.M.S. Hospital.
An industrial neurosis unit comprising one hundred male beds was opened at Sutton Emergency Hospital, thei/^AjWe to Press a further Circular (No. 100147) has been issued for the guidance of local authorities in planning ental Health Services. H.M. Stationery Office, 2d. Sutton, Surrey on April 1st, 1947. Patients are admitted who have a neurosis and employment difficulties; they come mainly from the Employment Exchanges having been referred by the Disablement Rehabilitation Officer (D.R.O.) to a Psychiatrist who, if he thinks fit, sends a report to the industrial unit requesting admission. Other patients may be referred by the Ministry of Pensions or direct from Psychiatric Out-Patient departments. In the meantime the scheme is limited to the London and South Eastern district.
The geperal treatment programme is the same as for neurotic patients in general: individual psychotherapy, group treatment, educational and social methods, and physical methods of treatment are all used. Allied to treatment are occupational therapy and work therapy. By work therapy we mean occupation while still in hospital, carried out however, in a normal work environment (firm, shop, farm, Government Training Centre, technical institute, etc.). This outside employment for patients who are still in hospital depends on enlisting the help of an increasing number of local employers, and gives us a much bigger range of occupation that is possible with workshops in the hospital itself. The patients, who are at their occupation one to two hours a day, are there to see the conditions of work, but are in no sense employees: they can lend a hand as required, but are displacing no one, and are of course unpaid. An accident is considered as occurring during the course of treatment, and would be a hospital responsibility and not the firm’s.
Occupational therapy includes all occupations carried on within the confines of the hospital. We are developing workshops in hospital to cover some of the basic trades?e.g. bricklaying, plastering, hairdressing, tailoring, and gardening, each with its own instructor taking small classes of 12 men.
The varied range of occupational and work therapy offers excellent opportunities for vocational selection. The psychologist uses routine vocational testing, but of more practical value is the placement in a real work environment, and a study of the patient’s reaction to this environment. Frequent changes of occupation are possible and of value in aiding vocational choice. The patient’s stay will probably be limited in most cases to two months or less. By the end of this time however, the psychiatrist, psychologist, D.R.O., and instructor or employer, psychiatrist social worker, and nursing staff, will have formed collectively a fairly clear idea as to the man’s value on the labour market. Some men will be ready to go into ordinary jobs and as far as possible we plan to have these finally arranged before leaving hospital. Others will be considered fit only for sheltered employment and here the help of a friendly employer willing to accept the man despite definite disability is our aim. Later when more ” Remploy ” factories are available for the severely disabled it may be possible to place some of our patients through this channel. Finally, there will inevitably be a residue of patients who are considered unfit for any form of employment; these should be removed from the books of the Ministry of Labour and referred to Public Assistance. In conclusion it must be remembered that we are dealing with the failures on the labour market, men who are frequently constitutionally poor material and have never settled to any job; under these circumstances we must avoid undue optimism.
Our Contemporaries
Four new Journals, whose advent we cordially ^e’come, have recently been published or will appear Human Affairs is a scientific quarterly which will seek to ” encourage the development of an integrated approach in the social sciences ” by combining reports ot original research arising from experience in the field ?r from laboratory work clarifying ” real life problems with theoretical contributions, thus relating social theory to social practice. A feature of the Journal is that 11s editorship is to be a joint enterprise on the part of the tavistock Institute of Human Relations in London and the Research Centre for Group Dynamics of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, ^ass., U.S.A. The annual subscription is 35s. (single ?Pies, 10s. each). Orders should be sent to the ^?anaging Editor, Tavistock Institute of Human elations, 2 Beaumont Street, London, W.l.
Child Care?another new quarterly?seeks ” to keep oluntary Homes throughout the country in touch with iVe work of the National Council of Associated Children’s omes ” in raising standards of child care and voicing J “5. “eeds of children and staff”. The first number, f in V/t ‘s attractively printed and produced, appeared J1 March, its contents include a Foreword by the Home ecretary, articles by Miss Myra Curtis on ” Child C-iffi *n t^le Voluntary Homes”, and by Cardinal ? ?n ” ^ew proposals in Child Care, from the atholic View-Point “, and useful information is given n the existing Training Colleges for workers in Homes. wV KnnuaI subscription is 4s. 6d. (single copies, Is.), mch should be sent to the Business Manager, ” Child L^j”’ National Children’s Home, Highbury Park, h N.5.
Social Service. The National Council of Social Derwr announces the resumption of its pre-war dur’? t’le Publication of which was suspended wii/n^ war* ^t will now become a quarterly and ann appe?r ^rst in July 1947. Subscriptions (10s. per durir.0 wai. n wu appear first in July m, single conies. 26 Bedford Square, 4 1UOI ill JU1JT (JUUJUipUUlW ^ i v/o. pvi to ,Vm’ single copies, 2s. 6d., post free) should be sent lL5C Editor- ‘ Social ! London, W.C.I.
The Family. The first number of this quarterly (price Is. 3d., publishing office: 1 Dorset Buildings, Salisbury Square, E.C.4), appeared recently, edited by Crystal Herbert in consultation with the Family Relations Group. Small in size (resembling Convoy in general appearance) it has a number of lively articles on various aspects of family life, with excellent photographs and other illustrations. A serious-minded effort to provide a forum for discussion on this all-important topic is opportune and is an indication of the increasing awareness of the need for preserving family values in a changing social structure.
For Mental Nurses
A diverting little monthly periodical intended for those engaged in mental nursing, is published by the National Mental Health Foundation, Philadelphia, U.S.A., under the title The Psychiatric Aid* Whilst essentially designed to raise the standard of mental nursing, to emphasize the importance of an intelligent understanding of the patients’ needs and to suggest how they can be met with sympathy and imagination, the magazine is a lively production and includes “strips” humorous in drawing, but each illustrating some particular aspect of treatment in a way not likely to be quickly forgotten.
It is a matter of consideration by those engaged in our own mental hospital service whether there is not room in this country for a periodical similar in aim and tone, though adapted to suit British mentality.
Great Ormond Street Hospital
The Hospital for Sick Children, Great Ormond Street, London, W.C.I, asks us to announce that “in an endeavour to lessen the time spent waiting in the Out-Patient Department Out-Patients will, in future, be seen by members of the Consulting Medical and Surgical Staff by appointment only. Such appointments should, if possible, be made by a Doctor acquainted with the case and preferably by letter. They will be made between the hours of 9.30 a.m. and 12.30 p.m. Patients who attend without introductions from a Doctor will be examined in the Receiving Room and only when necessary referred to a member of the Consulting Medical or Surgical Staff. The Hospital is, of course, open day and night for urgent cases.
i bodv?btainable from P.O. Box 7574, Philadelphia 1, U.S.A. Ten cents a copy. The Foundation is a recently established ? whose activities we hope to draw attention in our next issue. I
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