Difference between revisions of "Portal:Featured Article Of The Week"

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(I didn't see that Soldat added to the future list so I decided to revert my earlier additon for Soldat's nomination.)
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|Title= Blockley Almshouse
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|Title= Protestant Insane Asylum
|Image= Spruce Street Almshouse.jpg
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|Body= With the Frind's Almshouse operating since 1713 the city put off construction of it's own facilities until 1732, and the Philadelphia Almshouse was established. Occupying the entire block between Third and Fourth, Spruce and Pine Streets this was the first government funded poorhouse in the United States and was regarded as a model institution, it had separate facilities for the indigent and the insane, and also an infirmary. In 1767, the much larger alms house with an infirmary, and the house of workhouse were completed on the south side of Spruce Street between Tenth and Eleventh. By 1830, overcrowding necessitated further expansion, and a new alms house for men and another for women, a separate hospital and a workhouse were built, 1827-1832. This included departments for children as well as a colored department. This complex was built across the Schuylkill River in Blockley Township, in what is now University City in West Philadelphia. William Strickland was the architect and Samuel Sloan, later to be a well-known architect, worked as journeyman carpenter on the project. This facility soon became known as "Old Bockley". Operated by a city committee known as the Guardians of the Poor, Blockley’s early reputation for care was dismal. In 1864, the "Female Lunatic Asylum" building was accidentally destroyed by workers installing heaters, killing 18 women and injuring another 20. Article on Fire By 1885 there had been four fires at the institution. Blockley's geographical isolation from city medical institutions limited clinical care until the University of Pennsylvania, with its medical school, moved to a new site just north of the Almshouse grounds in 1871.
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|Body= Although the government played a larger role in the care of the insane, often considered a threat to social order, than it did in relation to poverty, philanthropy was still important. The move to create specialized insane asylums spread across the western world in the mid-19th century. The model used in Quebec differed from that in many places, since the government paid per-patient fees to private institutions rather than open state-run asylums. As was the norm, the Montreal Catholic asylum was run by nuns. Protestant philanthropists held a public meeting in 1881 to organize a separate asylum. This hospital, finally opened in 1890, was largely paid for by public subscriptions and donations. Doctors applied the treatment method common at the time-a combination of work (largely farm work), recreation, religion and good nutrition. The number of patients increased from 139 in 1890 to 1,200 in 1936, as people gradually accepted the idea of committing family members to asylums.
  
Despite the huge size of the institution for its time, with the ability to accommodate about 3,000, by 1870 it was overcrowded with a population of 3,789. According to the 1878 Annual report of the Board of Commissioners of Public Charities Blockley's Insane department housed 1,200, accounting for a full quarter of all insane in the state. In order to address this overcrowding at Blockley the state built the State Asylum for the Insane at Norristown, opening in 1880.[[Blockley Almshouse|Click here for more...]]
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In 1946, the Hospital became affiliated with McGill University. Its training programs are recognized and continue to welcome increasing numbers of students in all disciplines related to mental health: psychiatry, nursing, psychology, occupational therapy etc.
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In the 1950s, a revolutionary breakthrough in mental health treatment and research was made by Douglas psychiatrist, Heinz Lehmann, MD, who introduced antipsychotic medications to North America. Thanks to these medications, many patients, until then considered incurable, were able to regain an active life in society. This development also gave rise to the creation of less restrictive approaches and triggered deinstitutionalization in the mid-1960s. [[Protestant Insane Asylum|Click here for more...]]
 
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Revision as of 04:03, 25 April 2011

Featured Article Of The Week

Protestant Insane Asylum


Verdun01.png

Although the government played a larger role in the care of the insane, often considered a threat to social order, than it did in relation to poverty, philanthropy was still important. The move to create specialized insane asylums spread across the western world in the mid-19th century. The model used in Quebec differed from that in many places, since the government paid per-patient fees to private institutions rather than open state-run asylums. As was the norm, the Montreal Catholic asylum was run by nuns. Protestant philanthropists held a public meeting in 1881 to organize a separate asylum. This hospital, finally opened in 1890, was largely paid for by public subscriptions and donations. Doctors applied the treatment method common at the time-a combination of work (largely farm work), recreation, religion and good nutrition. The number of patients increased from 139 in 1890 to 1,200 in 1936, as people gradually accepted the idea of committing family members to asylums.

In 1946, the Hospital became affiliated with McGill University. Its training programs are recognized and continue to welcome increasing numbers of students in all disciplines related to mental health: psychiatry, nursing, psychology, occupational therapy etc.

In the 1950s, a revolutionary breakthrough in mental health treatment and research was made by Douglas psychiatrist, Heinz Lehmann, MD, who introduced antipsychotic medications to North America. Thanks to these medications, many patients, until then considered incurable, were able to regain an active life in society. This development also gave rise to the creation of less restrictive approaches and triggered deinstitutionalization in the mid-1960s. Click here for more...