New Scope for Industrial Therapy

The potential of industrial therapy in the recovery of chronic psychotics and the need for a reappraisal of the kinds of work done were illustrated at a recent NAMH conference on 'Stress and work'. at least 10% of the 46,000 chronic schizophrenics under the age of 60 in Britain's psychiatric hospitals can be rehabilitated in the opinion of Dr. Donal Early, consultant psychiatrist at Glenside Hospital, Bristol, and founder of the Industrial Therapy Organisation attached to the hospital. Speaking at the conference, 'Stress and work', organised by the NAMH in October, Dr. Early said that he had no doubt that industrial therapy had been 'the main contribution to the revolution of care in mental hospitals' over the past fifteen years. Throughout his pioneer work in the development of realistic and commercially based industrial units for the mentally ill, Dr. Early has had his share of brushes with bureaucracy and unyielding regulations. His attempts to set up a petrol station and car-wash on hospital land outside the gates was blocked although a car-wash, staffed by schizo-phrenics, was established inside the grounds and has become a great success both commercially and in terms of public relations by forging links between the hospital and customers in the community. The major stumbling block which still bars the way to a true simulation of the work situation in the outside community is the ?2 earning limit imposed on patients working within the hospital. F ^ a1 A thorough job being done by the car washing team at Glenside Hospital, Bristol. The team-members are all schizophrenic patients. A thorough job being done by the car washing team at Gienside Hospital, Bristol. The team-members are all Schizophrenic patients.