NEW MENTAL HOME.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 189, 12 August 1933, Page 7

NEW MENTAL HOME.

KINGSEAT PROGRESS. BUILDING MODERN VILLAS. TRANSFER TO NEW AREA. The recent contract for the erection of two further villas at the Kingseat Mental Hospital, between Papakura and Waiuku, and the pending occupation of tlio third and fourth villa next month, has drawn attention again to the scheme for the transfer of the institution from the Avondalo district. The InspectorGeneral of Mental Hospitals foreshadowed the proposed change in 1924, the intention being to erect an up-to-date villa mental hospital in a country] district, which would afford the patients many advantages which are denied them in the close settlement of the existing institution. The villa system for the treatment of mental defectives, with its large measure of freedom to patients and the abolition of yards and enclosed spaces, recognises these features as essential in promoting a greater measure of contentment. The first step forward in the change over from Avondale was taken in 1927, with the purchase of an area of COO acres at Kingseat, which, in addition to providing for the care of the mentally afflicted away from the city boundaries, fulfilled requirements for farming, occupation and recreation. A definite scheme for the development of the site and the erection of the buildings was planned, and the whole transition of the area was visualised. Plan of 26 Villas. The building portion of the scheme provided for the erection on an area of about 100 acres of 26 villas, with accommodation for approximately 50 patients each, also administrative blocks, workshops, and an entertainment hall. Recreational grounds were included in the lay-out. In the administration of an institution of this nature, vnUi its great burden on | public finance, it is essential that it be

made, as far as possible, self-supporting. To this end before a commencement was made with the building programme, the development of the farming area was started. In 1929 twenty patients were temporarily transferred to a summer camp at Kingseat and were engaged in the pioneer work of laying out the site and breaking in the land.

The first two villas were occupied in February, 1932, when 100 male patients were transferred. At the beginning of next. month it is expected to transfer another 100, half of whom will be females. Of the two further villas for which the contractors are at present laying the foundations, one will be for female patients, and the other for males. The patients now in residence, and those shortly to be transferred, are of a type who can be cared for with the minimum of supervision, having no refractory tendencies, and can be employed in the task of laying out the area and developing the farm. Layout and Farm Development. Though the original task in both respects was a formidable one, much progress has been made. An area of about 200 acres of swamp land has been or is being reclaimed, and part is producing vegetables for the inmates. A dairy herd has been developed to the extent that it is expected to milk nearly 100 cows this spring, thus providing for more than the dairying requirements of the institution. The first orchard, has been planted with 200 trees, while shelter belts, nurseries and plantations are showing satisfactory growth. Realising that recreation is a material panacea in the treatment of the mentally afflicted, an area of 4J acres has been levelled to provide football and cricket grounds, and is ready for sowing in grass. Tlie lessons learned from the profitable occupation and recreation diversion of the mentally afflicted are many. It is interesting to note that in the grounds of t>>e Avondale institution, a nine-hole golf course has been formed, and "the recovery of at least one patient was directly attributed to the distraction provided. Comfort of Villas. The design of the villa is Btandard in type, with variations only for male or female inmates. Each has wards with separate rooms attached, dining room and kitchen, and a spacious sitting room. In the latter are open fireplaces and'such

amenities as radio and a billiard table. Each patient lias a fireproof wardrobe, and parts of the buildings are equipped with central heating; The main approach to the institution from the Papakura-Waiuku road is being formed, also sweeping drives between the villas. Contracts for the villas have been lot in pairs, and whereas the first two pairs cost £25,000 each, the contract for the latest pair is £20,000. On this basis the complete villa scheme alone will involve the expenditure of over £250,000. Problem of the Future. The completion of the scheme is dependent upon State finances, but whatever be its progress the disquieting fact remains that construction is not sufficient to overtake the demands which are made on the mental institutions of the Dominion, and it is doubtful if. Kingseat will fulfil its objective in facilitating the closing of the Avondale institution. In his report for the year ended December, 1927, the InspectorGeneral pointed out that the number of patients in excess of the accommod;ition in the Dominion was 820, of which 117 were in the Auckland institution. The annual Dominion increase was estimated at 200, and by the end of 1928 the deficiency would be 1000, or the equivalent of a large institution. The number of people actually resident in the Auckland institution in 1927 was 1163, and a conservative estimate placed the total population in 1937 at 1400. Already, however, that estimate has been exceeded, and the number of patients being cared for today is greater than that provided for in the original Iviiigseat scheme.