MENTALLY AFFLICTED

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 16622, 13 April 1928, Page 4

MENTALLY AFFLICTED

CARE AND TREATMENT PROGRESS OF VILLA SCHEME Care and treatment of iiio mentally afflicted is now a highly specialised and highly developed study. ' In New Zealand the villa system, recognised as providing the ideal method, is gradually yet effectively supplanting the old order. Some interesting points concerning its development were touched upon by flie Inspector-General of Mental Hospitals, Dr. Gray, in the course of an interview in Widlinglon. “The whole history of mental hospitals,” said Dr. Gray, “shows that they have developed from (lie old times when patients were really held in much the same sense as prisoners were hold. The buildings were built with that underlying idea, and in the construction of them provision was made for a considerable number of cells, while the grounds, so far as the patients were concerned, simply consisted of exercise yards. Nowadays, when the question of treatment and classification of patients is recognised lo be of the first importance. structural ideas have altered materially. Instead of erecting barraeklike buildings with different wards to accommodate different types, it has been found advisable to house the different type of patient in an entirely detached self-contained unit. This system is known as the villa system. It has, of course, been found impossible to completely adapt the existing structures to meet the altered views, and it would obviously be unreasonable to suggest that the existing buildings should simply be scrapped and replaced by villas. To meet the requirements of present-dag views, no additions are being made to the large buildings, but extensions as required are met by the establishment of separate detached villas. ALL REQUIREMENTS MET “New mental hospitals, such as the one now in process of erection in tho Auckland province, are on the villa plan. The villa system offers the ideal system of treatment, observation, and classification, and entirely does nwav with the objectionable features which arise from the aggregation of crowds of somewhat difficult, irritable, and highly dynamic people. From time to time in New Zealand there has been a demand for wliat are popularly known as half-way houses. A study of the villa system must convince even the most sceptical that this system provides, not only half-way houses, but quarter-wav houses, one eighth-way houses, and threequarter-way houses ; in fact, accommodation to meet the varying requirements of the very diverse types of people who find their wav into the institutions for the care of the mentallv afflicted.” A LONG JOURNEY Dr. Gray mentioned that the principle was being adopted in every mental hospital in New Zealand. There were five villas at Porirua. in addition to the curative unit. Of all the admissions to Porirua, about 70 per cent, were admitted to the curative unit, and if by reason of non-recovery any individual had ultimately to enter the main building, be only reached there after successive, trials in the various villas and detached buildings, the functions of which were to prevent, as far as possible, a patient being labelled as chronic or irrecoverable. As exemplifying the desire of the medical staff to exhaust every possible therapeutic measure before giving up the patient as hopeless, Dr. Gray mentioned that from the time of entrance to the reception cottage it would take about three voars before admission to the main building had to be resorted to.