Diversional Educational Activities in a Mental Hospital

find that in most mental hospitals, the Occupational Therapy Department supplies a programme not unlike that which she has been running, though I agree with her that far more should be done. I think she must have been doing admirable work, but there are two points which I should like to make to your readers. The first is this: a course in psychology is not an adequate training for an organiser of educational and recreational activities for psychiatric cases. Secondly, the Health Service would provide better treatment for the same price by employing qualified people?and there are plenty?than by exposing their patients to the "trial and error" of lay technicians working under untrained staff-I greatly appreciate Miss Coghill's interest in my own work. Our programme has varied from time to time but at one time we ran regular classes in painting, modelling and pottery for a mixed group of chronic, convalescent and acute cases?puppetry for chronic women, percussion band and singing for refractory and regressed patients, gramophone concerts for a small group of mixed cases, football for a group of male patients recently admitted, tennis for convalescent women, and netball for refrac-tory women. In addition to these activities, the usual number of parties, concerts and social afternoons were arranged. For many years we have carried out reseearch work in the application of all kinds of dance movement to specific psychiatric conditions. Three groups had one class a week each and many extra practices before any show was given. In theory the scope of an Occupational Therapy Department should have no limits, but in practice it is crippled by lack of staff and the present-day over-emphasis on the clerical work which, in a large hospital, takes the Head O.T. or her assistant more than half her time. If lay technicians are employed to do the therapeutic work which the Head O.T. for this reason has not time to do, is it too much to ask that they should work under the trained Occupational Therapist?