Perth approach to rehabilitation

Press, 23 September 1980, Page 7

Perth approach to rehabilitation

Effective rehabilitation of ' physically disabled people can only come about by combining modem business management with existing medical treatment, according . to the director of the spinal injuries unit at Burwood Hospital in Christchurch (Mr AV. L. F. Utley). . '(Mr- Utley - was commenting on his , return from a three-month study tour of spinal injury units in. Perth, Britain, and Eur■■fhe unit at Burwood Hospital which serves New Zealand . south of. Hamilton was concentrating on rehabilitation, he said. "But we can still learn a: .great deal from the Perth unit on which much of! the' development here at. Burwood is based,” Mr Utley said. : ■ ’ The Perth unit served a population much the same size* as the Burwood unitj A'wide range of .280 physically disabled people were trained in a three-stage rehabilitation scheme. Each of these is run as a modem business enterprise, using skilled; administrators and tutors.” By bringing together disabled people’s brganisations, and the- Government

subsidies available to them, the Perth unit was making the most efficient and effective use of rehabilitation techniques and finance. It was not possible to return a patient to the community unless a collective and co-ordinated approach was adopted, he said. . Mr Utley said that: m New Zealand the system of rehabilitation available to. the disabled left too much to chance. “When a collective approach is made to the problems, as in Perth, many more people can be helped. The Perth unit returns more people to private industry than anywhere in Australia.” The three levels of rehabilitation at the Perth unit involve a modem industrial unit based on furniture making. and printing, a sheltered workshop and an activity centre. “All levels of disability are catered for and proper training allows people to progress to higher grades of training. Everyone receives a reasonable weekly wage and their earning capacity is balanced realistically to their level of disability.”