News and Note
C.A.M.W. Training Courses in 1938 The following Courses will be held by the C.A.M.W. in 1938:? Six Months’ Course for Workers in Institutions and Occupation Centres: January 10th to July.
Course for Students in training a,s Health Visitors (organised for College of Nursing) : January 10th to 31st. Refresher Course for Secretaries of Voluntary Associations: March 22nd to 25 th.
Course for Medical Officers (arranged in conjunction with University of London Extension and Tutorial Classes Council) : March 28th to April 8th. Long Course for Teachers of Retarded Children (at Morley College, London) : May 9th to July 15th.
Advanced Cour.se for Teachers of Retarded Children (organised for the Board of Education), London : July 4th to 23rd.
Course for Enquiry Officers and Supervisors of Occupation Centres, Notcutt House, London : July 4th to 23rd.
Elementary Course for Teachers of Retarded Children (organised for Board of Education), Bristol: August 25th to September 14th. In addition, the Association is again arranging the practical work in connection with the Course on Mental Deficiency held by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine as part of the Diploma Course in Public Health.
Mental Health Course
At the present time, when the nation’s physical health is a matter of such concern, the advertisement, published in this issue, of scholarships for Mental Health training, recalls a factor vital to general well-being. Eight scholarships, generously provided by the Commonwealth Fund of America, are available at the London School of Economics, for the Session 1938-39. Candidates are required to apply for these by May 2nd but the Course is open to other applicants, who will be considered until the end of June.
While the training has been designed to equip psychiatric social workers for employment in child guidance clinics, mental hospitals, observation wards and the psychiatric departments of general hospitals, it has also been found valuable in probation, family case work, juvenile employment, public health visiting, work with backward and mentally defective children, and with children and adolescents in “institutions.
To perform their functions adequately such workers must have an understanding of human nature, as well as knowledge of the material and social setting in which the patient is to live and of facilities available for helping in his adjustment. . In .a balanced programme of one year’s theoretical study and practical experience under supervision, the Mental Health Course aims at providing students with opportunities of acquiring these prerequisites to the work. The qualifications for the training, outlined in the advertisement, enable the fullest use to be. made of these opportunities.
Intending applicants who desire further information concerning the Mental Health Course, or preparation for it, are invited to consult the Tutor at the London School of Economics,
The Mental Treatment Act in 1936 Voluntary and Temporary Patients ——————————– In the Board of Control’s Annual Report, two interesting tables are given showing the proportion of voluntary and temporary admissions, respectively, to total direct admissions in County and Borough Mental Hospitals during 1936. In the case of Voluntary admissions, the figures range from under 5 per cent to over 70 per cent. In this highest category are the following eight Hospitals : Hereford (47 per cent.), Runwell (48 per cent.), West Ham (60 per cent.) Isle of Wight (62 per cent.), Portsmouth (62 per cent.), Ipswich (63 per cent.), Cardiff (68 per cent.), Swansea (73 per cent.).
The Hospital with the highest proportion of Temporary admissions is Derby Borough (52 per cent.), next to which comes West Ham (19 per cent.), Isle of Wight and Runwell (each 18 per cent.). The percentage of Temporary admissions to the total number is, in the majority of hospitals, under five, and seven hospitals make no use of this provision at all.
Out-Patient Clinics
In 1936, there were 155 Out-Patient Centres associated with 25 Borough and 60 County Mental Hospitals. Of these. 100 were at Voluntary General Hospitals, 8 at Municipal Hospitals, 16 at Mental Hospitals themselves, 2 at a Dispensary, 10 at County or other Public Health Offices, 9 at School or Child Guidance Clinics and 10 elsewhere.
In 74 Clinics the help of a Social Worker was available.
Mental Hospitals in 1936
In surveying the general position with regard to Mental Hospitals in 1936, the Board of Control note that only one new Hospital (Runwell, Essex) was opened during the year and no further additional accommodation on any large scale can be expected for some time. They therefore issue a warning that the aggregate overcrowding will become considerably more serious during the next three or four years. At the same time, they correct the general impression that this means an actual increase in the incidence of mental disase, by pointing out that the apparent increase is due to the fact that, owing to a diminishing birth rate there is now a larger proportion of the population in the higher age groups in which mental disorder is more likely to occur.
Attention is drawn to the need of an increase in the medical staffs of mental hospitals without which it is impossible to provide the individual psychiatric treatment upon which a patient’s chance of recovery must largely depend. ” It is unfortunate, though not surprising, that so many visiting committees, while ready to provide new buildings and equipment, are sceptical of the value of treatment which appears to consist merely of talk : they will spend freely to provide buildings and equipment, but they grudge expenditure on staff needed for psychotherapy. Perhaps it will always be difficult to persuade Englishmen to believe in a form of medicine which uses no larfcet and prescribes no pill.”
London Child Guidance Clinic
In the Annual Report of the London Child Guidance Clinic* for 1936, a general description is given of its work and methods with some interesting * Canonbury Lodge, 1 Canonbury Place, N. 1,
statistical tables showing the types of cases dealt with, age groups, sources of referral, treatment given, results, etc.
In assessing ” results “, it is pointed out that the workers are becoming more critical and the number of cases designated as ” adjusted ” is steadily falling. About a third of the cases are classified as ” improved “, but only in one-tenth is a wholly satisfactory result claimed. This does not, however, mean that the actual number of successful cases is diminishing, as treatment is being undertaken in a larger number of neurotic children and, despite great benefit derived, a residual factor of permanent instability is often left. Moreover the cases are treated for longer periods than formerly and therefore by the end of the year, treatment is not complete.
The total number of cases on the books of the Clinic during 1936 was 607, the maximum number which can be treated by the present staff in the present premises.
To meet the urgent financial situation, administrative reorganisation was undertaken during the year under review; in the autumn, Lord Feversham succeeded Mrs. Montagu Norman as President, and under his direction a Board of Governors was set up for the purpose of ensuring that sufficient funds shall be available each year.
The Clinic does not, on principle, undertake popular propaganda, but short courses are arranged for qualified students, case demonstrations given to groups from Training Colleges, Residential Homes, etc., and facilities for practical case work are provided for students taking the Mental Health Course at the London School of Economics. Three Fellowships in Psychiatry and three in Psychology tenable at the Clinic are offered each summer by the Child Guidance Council, and in 1936, two Bursaries were instituted for trained psychiatric social workers.
Liverpool Psychiatric Clinic
For thirteen years, the Liverpool Psychiatric Clinic has worked as a voluntary organisation, with (until recently) an Honorary Staff and in premises which, despite three successive moves, have continued to prove inadequate for the demands made upon them. From its inception in May, 1924, until March 31st, 1937, nearly 20.000 attendances by patients have been made and during the last two years the attendances have increased by over 41 per cent.
On November 29th, 1937, another stage in the life of the Clinic was marked by the opening of new premises in Abercrombie Square, with additional treatment rooms, an Occupational Therapy Room and a Children’s Department. The opening ceremony was performed by Sir Sydney Jones, Pro-Chancellor of Liverpool University?to whose generosity the Clinic Committee are deeply indebted.
In the current Annual Report there is a survey of the work done by the Clinic since its beginning and an interesting account is given by an ex-patient describing her impressions of the way in which she was helped by treatment.
In-Patient Provision for Psychiatric Illness
Provision for the treatment of psychiatric cases in general hospitals continues to be so inadequate that it may be said hardly to have begun to be made, and it is good news that owing to an anonymous gift of ?43,000, Guy’s Hospital is planning to build a Psychiatric Clinic to accommodate forty-two patients, in addition to the six for whom facilities already exist.
The Clinic will be under the direction of Dr R. D. Gillespie, Physician for Psychological Medicine at Guy’s, assisted by at least four full-time medical officers, and it will receive cases of all types of mental disorder which can be treated without the necessity of certification.
Building is to begin in the New Year, and is expected to be completed early in 1939.
Manchester Child Guidance Clinic
The Manchester Child Guidance Clinic which was founded in 1933 as a voluntary organisation, has recently been taken over by the Education Committee and has become a branch of the School Medical Service.
The clinical staff consists of a psychiatrist (Dr Winifred Mary Burbury), two psychologists and a social worker- It is uncertain whether the Clinic will be able to continue to accept cases from outside Manchester, as in the past, but its services are to be available for the children at the Heaton Mersey Remand Home, which is a Home Office institution receiving cases from various courts in Lancashire and maintained by the Manchester Education Committee in association with surrounding Authorities.
Child Guidance Council
The Child Guidance Council, in co-operation with the Battersea Polytechnic, have arranged a six months’ non-residential training course for Officers for Children’s Residential Homes and Schools. The Course will begin in January, and the subjects studied will be Physiology and Psychology, Mothercraft, Hygiene and Home Nursing, Household Management, and Recreations.
Other courses arranged by the Council include a week-end course in April at the Lincoln Training College for its staff and students and for the staffs of schools in the Eastern Counties, and an Easter Vacation Course at Sputhlands Training College, London, in two sections, one for matrons of schools, and the other for head masters and head mistresses, teachers, staffs and students of training colleges.
Particulars of these courses can be obtained from the Child Guidance Council, Woburn House, Upper Woburn Place, W.C.I. Waifs and Strays Society’s Care of Backward Children In 1935 the Waifs and Strays Society opened in London a Home (St. Winifred’s, Balham) for boys who were mentally retarded or who, for some other reason, were in need of special educational treatment. This spring, a similar Home for Girls is to be opened in Dulwich?to be known as The Rudolf Memorial Home.
The aim of the Home is to make provision for retarded or problem children already in the care of the Society, and the experience gained from the experimental work at St. Winifred’s has fully proved its need and value.
A New Certified Institution
There has recently been opened, at Totterdown Hall, Weston-super-Mare, a new Certified Institution for 25 high-grade girls over 16, and 35 trainable medium grade girls under that age.
The Institution is primarily intended for patients of the Roman Catholic faith, but suitable cases of other religious denominations will be accepted with the consent of the parent or guardian.
The fees to be charged are: adults, 21/6 weekly, with ?5 initial clothing grant; children (approximately), 27/6 weekly, plus an initial clothing allowance.
Applications for admission should be made to the Sister Superior, Totterdown Hall, Weston-super-Mare, Somerset.
Besford Court Hostel Scheme
In the Report of Besford Court Mental Welfare Hospital, Worcester, recently issued, there is an interesting announcement outlining a scheme for the provision of a hostel in Birmingham for boys who are ready for employment.
The Hostel is to be in charge of an After-Care Department which is being formed by the Institution to take charge of every boy ” from the time of his admission until he is fit to be discharged from his certificate”. It has been found that Authorities appear to have so much difficulty in securing employment and lodgings for cases on licence that the only way to deal satisfactorily with the problem is by a comprehensive scheme on the part of the Institution itself, of which the proposed Hostel is an integral part.
Bath’s New Enterprise
The Mental Treatment Act Committee of the Bath City Council, taking advantage of the powers given under Section 6 of the Mental Treatment Act, has recently opened a Nursing Home for patients suffering from mild mental or nervous disorders.
The Home?Weston Lodge?was opened by Mrs. H. B. Tate, M.P. for the Frome Division, on November 20th, 1937, and contains accommodation for fifteen women patients- It is a large house standing in its own grounds, about two miles from the centre of the City.
All the rooms occupied by patients face south, and each bedroom has its own colour scheme. Special attention has been paid to forms of modern medical treatment, and several rooms have been equipped for the administration of remedial baths, sprays and douches of a kind which have been found to have a beneficial influence on certain types of nervous troubles. As patients progress, they will be encouraged to occupy themselves in needlework, rugmaking, basket-making, gardening, etc. Provision is also made for outdoor games, dancing and physical drill.
The Home is intended to meet the needs of patients of limited means. The usual fee will be three guineas a week, but in special circumstances this will be reduced. The Matron, who is specially qualified for the work, will be helped by a staff of six experienced nurses, and expert medical advice will always be quickly available.
This is the first home of the kind to be opened by a municipal authority under the Mental Treatment Act, and Bath is to be congratulated on its pioneer activity.
An Educational Psychologist for Bristol
Miss M- T. Dunsdon, M.A., who has been one of the educational psychologists on the staff of the C.A.M.W. since January, 1936, has been appointed Educational Psychologist to the Bristol Education Committee and will take up her appointment there in February, 1938.
Miss Dunsdon, during” the time she has been connected with the C.A.M.W., has worked in connection with surveys in Jarrow, Southend, Preston and Dewsbury, and has also lectured and helped in the organisation of the Courses for Teachers of Retarded Children run by the Association. In Bristol, her time will be divided between work in the schools and at the Child Guidance Clinic.
The Board of Control and Holiday Homes
The Board of Control has expressed its cordial approval of the C.A.M.W.’s Holiday Homes and has drawn attention to the value of such provision, in the following paragraph of its Annual Report for 1936 :? ” Ap activity of the Central Association which calls for comment is the provision of seaside holiday homes for mental hospital patients as well as defectives. Monotony is the bane of institutional life; one day is like another and each year like the last. There are many patients in mental hospitals, particularly those of the quiet parole type, who would benefit both physically and mentally by a seaside holiday. Letters from patients who have visited these homes are pathetically grateful. People who are accustomed to regular holidays can hardly understand what a change of scene means to patients who have perhaps spent years in one institution. When a new holiday home is first opened it takes a little time before local prejudice is overcome, but this soon dies down and, in one popular resort, it was freely admitted that the patients behaved better than many of the normal visitors. The pleasure of a holiday in one of these homes is far from being limited to the actual week or fortnight spent there. It is prolonged by the excitement of anticipation and the happy memories it leaves in retrospect, and we hope that the demands on these homes, of which there are now four in different parts of the country, will be sufficient to encourage the Central Association to open still more.”
International Society for the Education of Exceptional Children
Another indication of the growing interest in the welfare of mentally retarded and physically handicapped children is the formation of an International Society which will hold a Biennial Congress to focus public attention on the subject and to stimulate the efforts that are being made in various countries to deal with it.
A circular has been sent to Ministries of Public Education in every country asking them to become official members of the Society, whose Secretary is Director Anton Mailer, Tullnerbach, near Vienna. The first Congress is to be held in Zurich in July, 1939.
It is interesting to note that the Society was constituted in Budapest at a meeting presided over by the State Secretary of the Hungarian Social Ministry. This country?through the activities of the ” Save the Children” Fund?has for many years been a theatre of international relief work for the benefit of distressed children and it seems particularly appropriate, therefore, that this new venture, animated by a like spirit?though of a more academic nature and directed towards the alleviation of a rather different type of ” distress “?should originate there.
National Special Schools Union
The 17th Biennial Conference of the National Special Schools Union held in London on November 25th, 26th and 27th, was largely attended and had a number of influential supporters. The meetings were held at County Hall and Lord Snell, the Chairman of the London County Council, gave a reception to the delegates, and presided over the first Session.
An interesting innovation was made at this Session when a series of short papers was presented by teachers young in the service, under the general title, ” What I want to Know.” The questions dealing with Special Schools for the Mentally Defective were: ” Can doctors co-operate more closely with teachers?” “Should an M.I). child excluded from physical training because of a weak heart, also be excluded from strenuous work in the domestic science room?” “Would it be better for children to go barefoot in wet weather (as in Australia) rather than to wear badly fitting and leaking shoes?” ” What value should be attached to a medical certificate (for absence from school) given by a private medical practitioner? ” ” What should be the limit of physical education for the mentally defective child?” “Should special (M.D.) Schools be built on open-air lines? ” ” Cannot something be done to relieve teachers in special (M.D.) Schools of clerical work? ” These questions were answered by various medical, educational and administrative experts. For a full report of the Conference, readers are referred to the next number of ” The Special Schools Journal,” obtainable from Mr. J- Hudson, 31 Hoodcote Gardens, London, N.21, price 1/-.
Juvenile Delinquency and ” Dullness “
The Home Secretary, Sir Samuel Hoare, has announced the initiation by the Home Office and the Board of Education of a joint investigation into the question of juvenile delinquency and dullness. Information is to be collected with a view to estimating the percentage of ” dull ” children (i.e., those with Intelligence Quotients between 85 and 70) in the ordinary school population and the percentage of such children amongst juvenile delinquents. In opening a new Remand Home at Hull, Sir Samuel Hoare, in referring to this investigation, pointed out its educational bearing, for, should it be found that an abnormally high proportion of dull children become delinquent, the disclosure must lead to an increased effort to provide for them the special type of education which they need if they are to make successful social adaptations.
” Character and Personality “
We are asked to announce that this quarterly journal edited by Professor Spearman, is being reconstituted and an Editorial Board has been set up consisting of experts in a number of subjects in the realm of psychiatry, psychology in all its branches, anthropology, sociology, politics, education, economics, heredity, biography, art and literary criticismIt is planned to present comprehensive surveys of the progress being made in different fields allied to the special topic of “Character and Personality,” and as a result of the distinguished support received, it is hoped to produce a magazine of real value and importance.
The annual subscription is 7/6, and subscriptions should be sent to the publishers, Messrs. Allen & Unwin Ltd., 40 Museum Street, W.C.l.
Worthing’s New Occupation Centre
For many years the Worthing Association for Mental Welfare, under the direction of Miss Potter, has carried on an Occupation Centre but it has been possible to keep it open for part time only, and there have been many difficulties due to inadequate accommodation.
Now all this is changed, for in September the Centre was moved to commodious premises specially designed for the purpose in a building, part of which is used as a Home for the Blind.
In addition to spacious centrally heated and well equipped rooms there is a good playground with garden plots, and facilities for cooking a midday meal. At present this is being given experimentally, with voluntary helpers to . cook and prepare it. Twenty-one defectives are on the register and there is an average attendance of fifteen.
The new premises were officially opened on December 8th by Miss Evelyn The new premises were officially opened on December 8th by Dr .Evans; Chairman of the Union of County Associations for the Blind, when Miss Evelyn Fox, C.B.E., spoke on the work of the Occupation Centre. .r
Mental Hygiene for the Pre-School Child
In his Report on the Child Guidance Clinics under the control of the Derbyshire Education Committee during 1936, Dr H. S. Bryan, Assistant School Medical Officer, urges the need for Child Guidance facilities during pre-school years.
“The Public Health Services”, he says, “are essentially preventive; and though by treating behaviour disorders in school children we are undoubtedly helping to prevent social failure in later life, we are actually tackling a problem , after it has developed instead of trying to prevent it from happening… . All schools of psychology are agreed that the foundations of mental stability are laid down in the first five years … and yet the amount of work which is being done in this connection is practically negligible.”
Dr Bryan suggests four lines of approach to this problem?(1) the establishment of Nursery Schools, (2) talks to mothers at Women’s Institutes, Welfare Centres, etc., (3) Some Instruction in Mental Hygiene for Health Visitors, and (4) the provision of Mental as well as Physical Hygiene teaching in Infant Welfare Centres.
Institute for the Scientific Treatment of Delinquency
We are asked to announce the following Courses of Lectures which will be given at the Institute, 8 Portman Street, London, W.l,. during the Spring session : The Psychiatry and Psychotherapy of Delinquency, by Dr Frederick Dillon. Four Lectures on Thursdays at 7 p.m., beginning on January 13th. Advanced Seminar on the same subject, conducted “by-Dr Denis Carroll Eight sessions on Wednesdays at 7 p.m., beginning January 26th. Mental Defect and Delinquency, by Dr B. C’rowhurst Archer. Four lectures on Mondays at 7 p.m., beginning on February 7th. For the Lectures, the fee is 1/6 each, or 6/- a course. For the Advanced Seminars, a fee of 10/6 is charged.
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