Library Collections: Document: Full Text


The Disabled Soldier

Creator: Douglas C. McMurtrie (author)
Date: 1919
Publisher: The Macmillan Company, New York
Source: Available at selected libraries
Figures From This Artifact: Figure 2  Figure 3  Figure 4  Figure 5  Figure 6  Figure 7  Figure 8  Figure 9  Figure 10  Figure 11  Figure 12  Figure 13  Figure 14  Figure 15  Figure 16  Figure 17  Figure 18  Figure 19  Figure 20  Figure 21  Figure 22  Figure 23  Figure 24  Figure 25  Figure 26

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150  

In the reconstruction hospital of the present day, the injured soldier receives not only the standard and routine treatment but also attention from specialists, such as is available under ordinary circumstances to the rich man only. This intensive treatment continues as long as there is room for improvement. During its course occupational work with a therapeutic object plays a r61e of surprising importance.

151  

The current conception of a hospital pictures a large ward with rows of white beds along both sides, and with the occupants of the cots lying quietly back on the pillows waiting to get well. One can imagine the state of mind such an existence would engender. Every worry, every apprehension, every symptom possible of adverse interpretation would get one hundred per cent, attention from the patient. And in competition with this mental concentration on self and self's ills, there is nothing but the once-daily perfunctory statement of the doctor: "You are getting on very well."

152  

That a worried and fretful mental state has an injurious reflex upon the course of an invalid's recovery is well known. Any means, therefore, by which the mind may be occupied and directed to some other object than the patient's own ills may be expected to have beneficial results.

153  

Experience has shown that one of the most effective curative agents at the disposition of the physician is occupation. Simple work of the hands can be started while the patient is still ill in bed, and increased amount and consequence during the period of convalescence. So in recent years teachers of "occupational therapy" or of "bedside occupations" have come to form part of the staff of the best civil hospitals, and in the military hospitals they are now considered a necessity.

154  

From the point of view of mental therapy it matters little what lines of occupation are offered, provided they interest the men. The more fascinating and engrossing the work, the better the mental results attained. There must be some product in which the patients will take satisfaction -- which perhaps they can take away at the end of their stay in the hospital -- for without product interest cannot be long sustained.

155  

From the point of view of physical therapy, it is desirable -- other things being equal -- that the manual exercise involved shall contribute to the process of physical restoration. If a man with Injured fingers can be set at an occupation which will bring the fingers actively into use, more will be gained than by many periods of massage. The same principle applies to the more extended occupational work after the bedside stage.

156  

While primarily curative in object, the choice of subjects should also be considered from the economic point of view -- though not to the prejudice of the physical results. A man is to be a long period in the hospital, and during his stay is to be occupied. If the simple experience and training can serve to brush up his skill in or extend his knowledge regarding the employment to which he will return, so much the better. In other words, his hospital occupation should be as purposeful as possible.

157  

In the early days of occupational therapy, the subjects were largely limited to those of the kindergarten: bead-work, basket weaving, knitting, clay modelling, and the like. These are now coming to be added to and in many cases supplanted by more consequential ones such as typewriting, weaving of textiles, mechanical drafting, telegraphy, and it will be the duty of those carrying forward this work to add still further to the list. For the foreign speaking or the illiterate the teaching of English is another excellent subject for hospital instruction.

158  

If the patient understands the work to be useful he will enter upon it with more enthusiasm and vigor, and the results will be proportionately improved. When the activity can in any way be related to the man's future job its import becomes even greater. It is hardly fair to keep a man knitting when he may as advantageously take up some more masculine and practical occupation. These principles are coming more and more to be realized by the military medical authorities.

159  

One of the most interesting branches of the medical work has as its aim the restoration of function -- overcoming limitation of movement in joints, re-training muscles, and the like. This work is usually known as "functional re-education."

160  

The modern principle is that the exercises to restore the Impaired function shall be active operations by the patient, rather than passive manipulations by hand or machine. At Hart House, in Toronto, Canada, there is in progress most interesting work of this character. All of the instruments have registering dials so that the disabled man can see from day to day to what angle of motion, through his own effort, he attains. The visible improvement encourages him, and the showing on the dial is a constant Incentive to excel his previous record. The process brings the patient face to face with his disability, and leads him to concentrate upon the effort to overcome it. The man thus learns the habit of self-treatment and, even outside of regular treatment periods, does what he can to further his recovery.

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