APARTMENT LIFE.

Waikato Times, Volume 104, Issue 17465, 27 July 1928, Page 10

APARTMENT LIFE.

ADDS TO HOSPITAL USE. VALUE OF NEWSPAPERS. ■ The present mode of Living in small homes anu apartments, and the corresponding elimination of the oldfashion spare or sick room of twentylive years ago, has brought about a ■ tremendous increase in the use of hospitals, Charles D. Folsom of New York told the annual convention of the New Jersey Hospital Association. The public attitude also has undergone a great change, he said, in accounting for the increase of the patronage of hospitals, which have changed from a haven for paupers to a real institution for administering to the sick. Their success is to a great extent contingent upon the impression made on the public, Mr Folsom said, and this is largely done through the newspapers. “Every public utility advertises widely in the papers, boosting the merits of its system, and it is only proper that hospitals should do the same thing," he added. Newspapers should be taken into confidence of the hospital, Mr Folsom declared. “It is rare when a newspaper reporter violates the confidence reposed in him by an institution,” he said. Treatment of Tuberculosis. Occupational therapy plays an important part in the treatment of tuberculosis, declared Dr. Samuel B. English of the State Tubercular llospilal at Glen Gardner, when he addressed the convention. v, “In the presence of active tuberculosis,” lie said, “rest is the all important element in the process of conservation of the patient’s vitality and reserve. “For a long time I have been convinced that it is not so much the physical ills of our patients that cause so much unrest of rnind’and upset of body functions as it is the realisation that they are no longer able to take their place by the side of their stronger fellows in the daily tasks of life. 8 For these occupational therapy acts as a sedative in quieting their perturbed .minds. As a result, the expenditure of energy promotes rest, the first and most important fundamental in treatment.” “The. public health of New York Citv and other communities is menaced by private hospitals and sanitaria which lend themselves to nefarious practices. They are a blot 5n the community and should be eradicated, Dr. Louis I. Harris, Health Commissioner of New York, told the convention at its closing session. Dr. Harris declared that the present lack of co-ordination of the hos- ___ I* text column.}.

prtals of New York and the multiplicity of methods make it a “marvel that wo can meet the demands of the sick as well as we do.” Dr. Harris also criticised the system which limits hospital practice to certain groups of physicians and permits only members of some “closed corporation" to do hospital work.