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WELFARE WORK Fact Sheet: 'Alternative' Therapy |
- Many wounded servicemen would end up in Auxiliary Hospitals and Convalescent Homes run by the JWO. Over half a million patients passed through these homes over the course of the war.
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| Nurses Looking after piglets in the grounds of a Convalescent Home |
- Convalescent Homes were not simply places of rest and relaxation for recovering servicemen. They were places of what was know as “mental and physical activity under medical guidance”. In other words, there were carefully planned exercises and forms of therapy that helped patients get back to good health and become an active member of their community.
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| Even the Convalescent Home nurses got involved – here they are making camouflage nets for the Army |
- In some homes an Army physical training instructor organised exercises for patients, including log sawing, garden work, stretching, and exercises with apparatus like wall bars, rowing machines and skipping ropes.
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| Gardening at a Convalescent Home |
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A hill-climbing exercise designed to build strength |
- The homes also gave physiotherapy to help physical recovery, and there were study and discussion circles, classes, and libraries to help mental recovery. Occupational therapy – the use of creative and practical activity to help recovery – was also available.
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| Physiotherapy in a Convalescent Home |
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Occupational therapy in a Convalescent Home |
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