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Originally published in the January 1957 JHPER, v28, issue 1, page 52...

Specialization in Hospital Recreation

At last November's National Conference on Professional Preparation of Recreation Personnel in Washington, D. C., the problem of the preparation of Hospital Recreation personnel, among others, was examined. Generally, conferees exploring this problem felt that specialization in Hospital Recreation should be offered at the graduate level, but recognized the feasibility of providing orientation and introductory field experience in Hospital Recreation at the undergraduate level for those desiring and able to qualify for early employment as recreation leaders in hospitals.

Further, it was recognized that undergraduate specialization in Recreation, and successful experience as a recreation leader for the handicapped in a medical setting, are desirable for specialization in Hospital Recreation at the graduate level. It was accentuated that because of the uniqueness of Hospital Recreation, only those institutions having adequate personnel and material resources should offer graduate specialization in this professional area, and that exceptionally careful screening of applicants for graduate matriculation in the specialty is essential.

In examining the course content for the Hospital Recreation specialty, the following subject areas and experiences were identified as those to be offered in addition to the core curriculum for all graduate study in Recreation: (1) professional specialization in hospital recreation, to include orientation, philosophy, leadership techniques, program planning, supervision, and management; (2) related professional education, to include orientation to medical science (including rehabilitation), psychological and sociological components of illness, group dynamics and processes, and abnormal psychology and pathology; and (3) field experience (internship in a medical setting).

A summary report of the Conference will appear in the March issue of this Journal, and a complete Conference Report will be distributed in the spring.

The Recreational Therapist In California

For those weighing the merits of entering the hospital recreation profession, there is quoted below a description of the position of Recreational Therapist in California mental hospitals, as contained in the announcement of a recent nation-wide examination for the position disseminated by the California State Personnel Board:

"A Recreation Therapist interviews patients referred for treatment, reviews their case histories, and places them in the recreation program; stimulates and leads patients in active participation in indoor and outdoor games and dances, hikes, skits and plays, theater and movie parties, and similar types of entertainment; gives special instructions in specific types of recreational activities to individual patients; plans regular and special programs of entertainment given by and for patients, and enlists outside assistance in their presentation; cooperates with other hospital personnel and coordinates the activities of the recreation therapy program with other therapeutic programs; observes patients' progress and keeps clinical notes and records and prepares reports; orders and cares for necessary equipment and supplies; and does other work as required...Positions exist in State mental hospitals located throughout California and in the reception centers of the Department of the Youth Authority..."

To qualify for employment as a Recreational Therapist in California, the applicant must have education equivalent to a Bachelor's degree in Recreation or Recreational Therapy, with appropriate supervised field experience. The applicant with a minor in Recreation or RT must have majored in a closely allied field and have had one year of full-time paid experience in Recreation. Qualifying, also, is completion of a two-year graduate curriculum with specialization in Social Group Work.

Although the duties and qualification standards for the Recreational Therapist are peculiar to the particular employing agency, California's positions and standards are believed representative of those adopted by other states.

Patient References

· The November 17, 1956, Journal of the American Medical Association is devoted almost entirely to sports, containing ten original articles and two editorials on the Olympic Games International Federation for Sports Medicine, and medical history of gymnastics, physical fitness and athletic performance, sports injuries, longevity and morbidity of athletes, and the physician as sportsman. This is one of the best references for hospital adapted sports, and recreation personnel which has appeared in the literature for some time.

· Those contemplating establishing recreation programs in hospitals will profit by reference to two articles by Mrs. Beatrice H. Hill, NRA consultant on hospital recreation, appearing in the September and October 1956 issues of Hospital Management, respectively: "Recreation: Can You Afford to Get Along Without It?" and "Setting Up the Recreation Program."

Originally published in the February 1957 JHPER, v28, issue 2, page 52.

Uniqueness of Recreation in the Hospital

The December 1956 issue of Intercom quotes Paul Haun, M.D., director, Professional Education, Eastern Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute, Philadelphia, on the topic, "Meeting the Needs of Patients." The following are excerpts from Dr. Haun's cogent remarks:

"The psychiatric patient entering the mental hospital does not check his collection of needs in the admitting office...He keeps them with him...

"All members of the hospital staff are, or should be, meeting some of the patient's needs or...making it possible for others to do so.

"There is a need, a basic human need, which we have not as yet mentioned. It is present in every patient, in every human being, sick or well. It is not met by the medical profession or by any of the supportive hospital disciplines other than your own...that basic essential human need is to have fun.

"I am quite aware that other and more high sounding words are often used to define recreation and to describe its goals, as if somehow it needed to be prettied up and excused--words like self-realization, creativity, resocialization, instinctual release, recanalization of Id impulses, sublimation, group identification, and all the rest. This kind of dollar a-word jargon saddens and discourages me...

"Self-realization is a splendid goal, but without fun it is certainly not recreation. Creativity is a quality we all respect and emulate. Only when its purpose is fun and not profit can we call it recreation. Resocialization of an appropriate kind, under particular circumstances and for specific purposes is, or course, admirable; but it is neither the purpose nor the necessary result of recreational activity. And so for all the rest of the halting synonyms, definitions, by-products and dynamic interpretations. Valuable as they may be, accurate as they may seem, they miss and badly miss the essential quality of recreation when fun ceases to be the motivation, the driving aim and the end result."

Dr. Haun admonishes, "By remembering that recreation itself is a distinct and significant professional discipline, not imitation occupational therapy, or counterfeit psychology, or pseudo psychotherapy, you can help it to its proper place in the sun."

Music Therapy at Tulane

A North American Newspaper Alliance news release datelined Nov. 23, 1956, reported that the Tulane University's Medical School, "recently established a major course of study in musical therapy. Young doctors will learn that along with drugs and surgery, music is a valuable weapon in combating both physical and mental anguish." The University is quoted as initiating the training "in response to the growing need for persons trained in music therapy for work in hospitals, or with the physically or emotionally maladjusted."

Does this event portend an eventual interest on the part of Schools of Medicine in "establishing major courses of study in recreational therapy"?

Impact of Tranquilizing Drugs

Richard S. Marnocha, chief, Special Service, at the approximately 1,600-bed Veterans Administration Hospital in Marion, Ind., is eager to exchange experiences with others facing acute problems associated with the conduct of recreation for mental patients at hospitals where there has been a noticeable increase in use of tranquilizing drugs.

Mr. Marnocha reports that at his hospital the demands for additional opportunities for active participation by patients receiving chemotherapy are almost of staggering proportion. Since administration of the drugs causes patients to be more amenable to treatment and responsive to their environment, physicians increasingly request more regularly scheduled and supervised activity periods, and more attention to individual treatment goals. These demands concern patients on chronic-infirm, as well as acute-intensive treatment wards. The demand is now for developing, improving, and stabilizing activity programs for such patients; for keeping pace with dramatic changes in psychiatric treatment. In such situations, it seems necessary to appraise recreation service "on the run," so as not to lose too much ground. This is not good, but what else can be done?

Those facing similar problems are invited to share their experiences through this column, or to correspond directly with Mr. Marnocha.

National Conference Reminder

Last November, an invitation was extended to all to recommend personnel who should be considered for leadership roles or who should be invited to attend, and to suggest program topics for next fall's National Conference on Recreation for the Ill and Handicapped to be held in Washington, D. C. Several fine suggestions have been received; it is not yet too late to submit others. Recommendations may be made through this column or directly to Jackson M. Anderson, consultant in recreation and outdoor education, AAHPER, 1201-16th St., N.W., Washington 6, D. C.

Originally published in the March 1957 JHPER, v28, issue 3, page 64...

Apply for Registration NOW

By recent action of the Council for the Advancement of Hospital Recreation, registration as a Hospital Recreation Director, Leader, or Aide, is now possible for all members in good standing of our Recreational Therapy Section, of the Hospital Section of the ARS, and of the National Association of Recreational Therapists. Applicants must meet certain qualification standards, the essentials of which were published in this column in January 1955.

Application forms for registration have been disseminated to all known members in good standing of the above three professional groups. Members of our RT Section should accomplish and return these forms at the earliest possible date to Dr. Jackson M. Anderson, AAHPER, 1201 16th St., N.W., Washington 6, D. C., to allow for their processing at the meeting of CAHR's Board of Registration in Chicago March 18. Dr. Anderson has been appointed Representation for Registration for our RT Section and in that capacity will serve as Chairman of the Board during its first year of operation.

National Conference Dates Set

Arrangements have been made for the AAHPER National Conference on Recreation for the Ill and Handicapped at the Woodner Hotel in Washington, D. C., Nov. 17-20, 1957. Your editor will serve as Chairman of the Steering Committee. Since attendance will be on invitation only, those interested in contributing to or participating in the conference are invited to let their interests be known through this column.

VA Employment Opportunities

VA's Central Office has indicated that the following recreation leader and/or supervisor position vacancies exist at its field stations:

· General recreation positions at VA Hospitals, Dearborn, Mich., Indianapolis, Ind., Lyons, N. J., Miles City, Mont., Omaha, Nebr., and Roseburg, Oreg.

· Sports positions at VA Hospitals, Jefferson Barracks, Mo., Lyons, N. J., Northampton, Mass., Roseburg, Oreg., and Topeka, Kans.

· Music positions at VA hospitals, Chillicothe, Ohio, and Lebanon, Pa.; radio position at VA Hospital, Lyons, N. J.

· Social activities and services positions at VA Hospitals, Augusta, Ga., Chillicothe, Ohio, and Lebanon, Pa.

Those interested in employment should write directly to the hospital or center, as indicated.

Career Descriptions

A vocational guidance manual, Physical Therapy, A Career of Science and Service, has recently been distributed by the American Physical Therapy Association, 1790 Broadway, New York 19. This is a complete description of the profession, including nature of the work, distribution of workers, personal requirements and preparation for the field, working conditions, disadvantages, entry into the field and sources of further information.

The Association For Physical and Mental Rehabilitation, 1472 Broadway, New York 36, has published a similar leaflet, but in less detail, describing Corrective Therapy.

Springfield College Workshop

The Summer School Committee at Springfield College has approved a workshop on "Recreation in Rehabilitation" to be held at the college June 17-28, 1957. For further information, write Cecil W. Morgan, director of courses in rehabilitation, Springfield College, Springfield 9, Mass.

Music with Alcoholic and Neurotic Patients

The April 1956 issue of the Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease contains an article by A. Zanker and M. M. Glatt, entitled "The Influence of Music on Groups of Alcoholic and Neurotic Patients in a Mental Hospital." Among other conclusions, the authors of this report of a study conducted at the Warlingham Park Hospital in Surrey, England, suggest that for maximum effect, patients should be grouped on the basis of common interests rather than upon psychiatric diagnosis; that selections should be within the musical reach of the patients; that music recitals should be of a relatively short duration; and that listening to artists is superior to listening to impersonal recordings. These observations seem to bear significance to the conduct of other recreation activities for such mentally ill patients.

New Journal for NART

The National Association of Recreational Therapists has an attractive new quarterly entitled Recreation for the Ill and Handicapped. Replacing the association's former publication, Inter-State News, it is available to non-members at $1.50 per year. Requests should be addressed to Virginia L. Dobbins, Bryce Hospital, Tuscaloosa, Ala. The first issue carries an announcement of the national convention of the association, to be held at the LaSalle Hotel in Chicago, March 19-21, 1957.

Originally published in the April 1957 JHPER, v28, issue 4, page 60...

Duties of Hospital Recreation Personnel

Fred M. Chapman, assistant professor of recreation, University of Minnesota, has been completing a dissertation on "The Establishment of a Graduate Curriculum in Hospital Recreation." Since his analysis of the functions to be performed by hospital recreation personnel has significance to those contemplating the establishment of recreation positions in hospitals, as well as to those weighing the merits of entering the profession, we have been granted permission to report on this aspect of his study, an uncompleted doctoral theses in the Dept. of Recreation, School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, Indiana University.

In analyzing the functions to be performed, a list of 40 duties was compiled from a study of 53 different job specifications for positions requiring a Bachelor's degree or more in recreation or related fields. These positions were representative of those existing in approximately 325 state, military, Veterans Administration, and private hospitals. A jury consisting of ten medical doctors and ten leaders in hospital recreation and related areas was asked to rate the essentiality and desirability of the 40 duties. The following represents the appraisal of this jury:

Essential Duties

· Organizes, directs, and supervises a recreation program for rehabilitation of patients.

· Provides supervision for recreation staff (staff meetings, recruitment, recommendations, and evaluation).

· Confers with medical staff or a physician in developing a recreational therapy program for patients.

· Cooperates with other medical team members in the coordination of a program of activities for patients.

· Directs and participates in an in-service training program for recreation staff.

· Surveys program and makes recommendations for improvement.

Highly Desirable Duties

· Prepares reports on progress of recreation program for staff meetings and other personnel.

· Interprets recreation program to staff, volunteers, and the public.

· Observes, interprets, and reports progress in the recreational therapy program.

· Makes, reviews, and authorizes budget requests and expenditures within recreation department.

· Addresses student nurses, other staff members, and interested community organizations on recreational therapy.

· Orders and maintains necessary recreation supplies and equipment.

· Interviews referred patients and plans recreation program modified for patients' limitation and needs.

· Attends professional meetings away from the hospital.

· Directs volunteers' activities, enlists their support and coordinates their efforts.

· Keeps clinical notes, records, and reports on patients in recreation program.

· Supervises attendants, assistants, and ward personnel who assist in recreation program.

· Directs special holiday programs for patients.

· Assists in training of students from educational institutions.

· Leads a planned recreation program for an intensive treatment unit of patients ("total push," selected groups, etc.).

· Instructs individual patients in recreation (encourages participation, arranges schedules, and leads activities).

· Arranges special entertainment for patients (circuses, plays, etc.).

Desirable Duties

· Leads sports, games, and athletic activities for patients.

· Leads dance activities for patients (social and folk dancing).

· Leads nature and outing activities for patients (picnics, camping, etc.).

· Schedules and arranges for showing of motion pictures to patients.

· Assigns patients to recreation classes and groups.

· Leads music activities for patients (community singing, instrumental, etc.).

· Suggests a recreation program of activities to relatives for discharged patients.

· Plans parties for patients.

· Leads drama activities for patients (theater, puppetry, plays, etc.).

· Directs hospital radio station participation program for patients.

· Directs preparation of patients' newspaper, clubs, and hobby programs.

· Leads arts and crafts activities for patients.

Originally published in the May-June 1957 JHPER, v28, issue 5, page 53...

CAHR Registration

In November 1953, two representatives each of the AAHPER Recreational Therapy Section, the American Recreation Society Hospital Section, and the National Association of Recreational Therapists, met at the NEA offices in Washington, D. C., to form the Council for the Advancement of Hospital Recreation. The Council's first stated objective was to raise standards for personnel employed to conduct recreation for the ill and handicapped.

Since then, members of the Council and others have worked diligently to develop personnel standards and a system of voluntary registration for those qualified under the standards, all of which were eventually approved unanimously by the three professional group.

Voluntary registration as Hospital Recreation Director, Leader, or Aide became a reality at the CAHR meeting in Chicago, March 18, when its Board of Registration acted upon 48 of the 133 applications for registration received during the preceding two months. Time did not allow for the processing of the remainder of the applications which, with others received later, were considered at the next meeting of the Board, April 26 in Washington, D. C.

Since applications are acted upon in the order received, it is important for interested personnel to submit their applications at the earliest possible date. Applications are made and reports of Board action on them are received through the applicant's own professional group. The registration fee is $10 and transcripts forwarded with applications are returned. Those approved receive certificates and identification cards.

First VA Affiliation Approved

Authorization has been granted the Veterans Administration hospital at Palo Alto, Calif., for affiliation with the Recreation Department of San Jose State College, to provide opportunities for the training of students for Hospital Recreation. The affiliation was approved following a visit to the San Jose campus in March by B. E. Phillips, representing the VA, and Charles K. Brightbill, University of Illinois, and Harlan G. Metcalf, State University of New York, Cortland, serving as professional consultants to the VA.

Since the publication of standards governing the conduct of the VA's Student Affiliate Recreation Trainee Program (see "Standards for the VA Recreation Trainee," in this Journal, Dec. 1956, p. 31), the following affiliations have received provisional approval, pending similar visits to their campuses: VA Hospital, Minneapolis, with the Division of Recreation Leadership, University of Minnesota; and VA Center, Bath, N. Y., with the Recreation Education Department, State University of New York, Cortland.

It is the VA's purpose, through this program, to alleviate the shortage of professionally trained hospital recreation personnel; to improve the pre service education of such personnel; to augment station recreation staffs with uncompensated service of a high level of accomplishment; and to stimulate station recreation staff development and professional advancement.

Hospital Recreation Study

The cooperative study of recreation in hospitals being coordinated through the NRA (reported in this column last October) is progressing well. Beatrice Hill, coordinator for the study, states that there has been good response to the questionnaire on the status of recreation, distributed in January to approximately 6,500 hospitals; data received are now being tabulated.

A second questionnaire, on the education and experience of individual workers, has been developed. A third step, pertaining to the curriculum content for the preparation of hospital recreation personnel, is in the final planning stage.

This study should be a material contribution to our profession. Its support should be encouraged.

Columbia University Work Conference

Columbia University has announced two workshops in Recreation in Rehabilitation, to be held at Teachers College June 3-14 and/or June 17-28. Morning sessions will be conducted at the College; part of each day will be devoted to field visits. The fee, without credit, is $60; those qualified for and desiring credit, may register for one to four credits. For details, write Josephine L. Rathbone, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York 27.

Originally published in the September 1957 JHPER, v28, issue 6, page 72...

National Conference Plans

Invitations were recently issued for the AAHPER National Conference on Recreation for the Mentally Ill, to be held at the Woodner Hotel, Washington, D. C., Nov. 17-20. Paul Haun, M.D., director of psychiatric education, N. J. State Dept. of Institutions and Agencies, Trenton 25, will act as general conference consultant. He will chair a panel discussion at the opening general session, at which time will be introduced topics for small group work sessions during the ensuing two days. Included in discussion areas are philosophy and evaluation, pre- and in-service education, professional attitudes and practices, and designing and equipping recreation areas.

The last day will be devoted to panel discussions designed to provide all in attendance the opportunity to appraise and refine earlier work session reports.

Further details of the conference appear in Coast to Coast, p. 60.

Club Leadership for Handicapped

In June, the Recreation and Camping Department of the Connecticut Society for Crippled Children and Adults conducted a one-day conference on Recreation Club Leadership Of, By, and For the Handicapped.

More than 100 handicapped persons and their friends discussed special club officers and constitutions; purposeful program ideas; club problems and solutions; and club sponsors and volunteers.

The 21-page, attractive reports containing many useful ideas can be purchased at 50ў per copy from: Theodore Fabyan, director of recreation and camping for the Society, 740 Asylum Ave., Hartford 5, Conn.

Why Register with CAHR?

Registration with the Council for the Advancement of Hospital Recreation indicates that the individual meets the standards not only of his own professional group, but those of the total hospital recreation profession. Although it is not known when the various agencies utilizing hospital recreation personnel will require CAHR registration to qualify for employment, it is known that some individuals in positions of authority have already implied that such registration will receive a high priority in weighing the qualifications of applicants for recreation positions in hospitals.

It has been asked what the low-salaried employee has to gain through registration. It would appear most appropriate here to re-examine the status and employment benefits achieved by other professions through united action. It cannot be denied that, as of this date, the tangible benefits received through registration with CAHR are not readily perceptible. It must be recognized, however, that because of their numbers, those in the lower salary brackets have it within their power to make the registration system a success; that because of their low salaries they stand to profit more through general wage increases; and that because they are working directly with patients, they can lastingly contribute to the eventual high esteem of the hospital recreation profession.

Since other professions have obtained their high levels of prestige and monetary return through the establishment of rigid standards of ethics and realistic qualifications for membership, there is good reason to predict that the CAHR's registration plan will increase in stature in proportion to the backing it gets from members of the hospital recreation profession. This backing should be strong, inasmuch as all participating groups are now committed to support the plan. Eventually, those identified with our profession, through registration, should be as proud of their singular recognition, as are others identified as RN, OTR, etc. This recognition, of course, must be earned.

At the two meetings of the Board of Registration, approximately 160 applications have been acted upon. A third meeting of the Board is scheduled for early this month. Those still weighing the merits of registration are urged to consider first their potential contribution to the profession.

The satisfaction in this contemplation alone should be well worth the effort and cost of registration. Those interested may refer to this column in the March and May-June 1957 issues of this Journal for more detailed information.

Adjunctive Therapy Conference

Last April, Robert C. Boyd, chairman-elect of the AAHPER Recreational Therapy Section, participated in a conference at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas, pertaining to a research project on coordination of adjunctive therapies in the treatment of psychiatric patients. Approximately 40 representatives of organizations and staff of the project discussed "How does the coordination of activities affect the treatment of the psychiatric patient?" "What does the coordination of activities mean to each of the professional organizations?" and "What suggestions can be made to the project?" Questions relative to the project should be directed to William H. Key, director of the project at Washburn University.

Originally published in the October 1957 JHPER, v28, issue 7, page 68...

National Conference Topics

The AAHPER is conducting a National Conference on Recreation for the Mentally Ill at the Hotel Woodner in Washington, D. C., November 17-20. Twenty-two national professional societies and agencies have been invited to cooperate in this Conference and an estimated 100 or more invited delegates will participate.

The purpose of the Conference is to provide a national forum at which recognized leaders of the hospital recreation and other concerned professions may assemble, analyze, and synthesize their views on the conduct of recreation for the mentally ill. Tentative plans call for the exploration of the following topics and sub-topics:

Topic A: Professional Attitudes and Practices

Qualities of the "professional" in hospital recreation; direction and supervision of staff; direction and supervision of volunteers; group dynamics and processes; leadership techniques; liaison with other hospital personnel; participation in professional societies; writing for the professional literature; participation in, and encouraging others to do, research.

Topic B: Pre- and In-Service Education

Relative responsibilities of the employing agency and of the institution of higher learning; qualification standards; professional preparation in hospital recreation; levels of specialization; curriculum content; types of field experience; problems in the continued education of those now employed; constituents of a sound in-service training program; the place of institutes, seminars, training courses, correspondence courses.

Topic C: Facilities and Equipment

Designing and equipping the ward recreation area; recreation hall; gymnasium; swimming pool; outdoor multi-purpose area; theater; music rooms; arts and craft shops; offices; multiple use of facilities; adopting existing facilities.

Topic D: Evaluation and Research

Relating philosophy and objectives to evaluation; the hospital recreator's role in evaluation; hospital resources, available evaluative methods, techniques and tools; measuring the attainment of objectives and accomplishment of goals; evaluating the total program; reporting to physicians on patient behavior; reporting to management on program accomplishments; knowing what to observe and how to report; significant research to date; best sources for keeping informed on new studies.

The Conference Steering Committee would welcome expressions in advance as to which of the above topics should receive priority attention, unlisted sub topics which should be explored, avenues of approach, and available sources in the literature. These may be mailed direct to your column editor at the above address.

Qualities of the Professional

Last June, Paul Haun, M.D., now Director of Psychiatric Education for the State of New Jersey, served as a consultant to VA's Department of Medicine and Surgery Recreation staff. In this capacity he developed, among other things, a list of attitudes which he thought the professional in hospital recreation should possess. This list was so impressive that he was urged to prepare the article for our Journal which appears on page 12. This article will be used as a basic reference in the exploration of the topic on Professional Attitudes and Practices at the National Conference referred to above. Each of us would do well to ask, "Do I possess the ten professional attitudes expressed therein?"

Recreation for Discharged Patients

In October 1956, this column reported the establishment of a Recreation Counseling Service as part of the discharge planning program for mental patients at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Kansas City, Mo. A recent report from John B. McHugh, M.D., manager of the hospital, indicates that this service has proven so successful in the rehabilitation of patients that it is continually being expanded.

When the program was initiated, the counseling team was comprised of the Chief, Clinical Psychology, a representative of the City Recreation Program, and the hospital Chief, Recreation Section. This team worked with an entire ward of mental patients. Although this approach is still used, it has been supplemented by providing individual counseling of selected patients needing special attention to their recreation needs.

This counseling is done by the City and Hospital recreation representatives. As an outgrowth of these individual counseling sessions, selected patients are now assigned to specific community recreation projects as a means of further orienting them for return to community life. Marie H. Santee, Chief of Recreation at the hospital, is to be commended on this progressive step in providing a better recreation service for these hospitalized veterans.

Originally published in the November 1957 JHPER, v28, issue 8, page 68...

National Conference This Month

Last month's column contained the purpose, and topics to be explored, for our National Conference on Recreation for the Mentally Ill, to be conducted in Washington, D. C., Nov. 17-20. As of the first week in October, nearly 100 invited delegates, discussion leaders and reporters, special consultants, and representatives of cooperating organizations had accepted invitations to participate.

Delegates will represent selected recreation personnel in state, military, Veterans Administration, and other hospitals, including those in Canada; recreation facilities from institutions of higher learning; and representatives of professional societies and of community, state, and national offices.

Paul Haun, M.D., director of psychiatric education, New Jersey State Department of Institutions and Agencies, will act as General Conference Consultant. Alexander Reid Martin, M.D., chairman of the Committee on Cooperation with Leisure Time Agencies of the American Psychiatric Association, will be Chairman for Group A, exploring the topic "Professional Attitudes and Practices"; Dr. Harold Meyer, chairman of the recreation curriculum, University of North Carolina, will be Chairman for Group B, discussing "Pre and In-Service Education"; Charles E. Goshen, M.D., director of the APA's Architectural Study Project, will be Chairman for Group C for the topic "Facilities and Equipment"; and Dr. Lee Gurel, executive officer of the VA's Psychiatric Evaluation Project, will be Chairman for Group D with the topic "Evaluation and Research." Other nationally recognized leaders in recreation, education, and allied professions have also accepted key roles.

Among those cooperating organizations already having appointed observers and/or participating representatives are the following:

Association for Physical and Mental Rehabilitation American Library Association American Medical Association American National Red Cross American Nurses Association American Occupational Therapy Association American Psychiatric Association American Psychological Association American Recreation Society Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry National Association of Recreational Therapists National Association of Social Workers National Institute of Mental Health (USPHS) National Recreation Association Veterans Administration

Orienting Physicians in Recreation

For more than a decade, this problem has plagued those engaged in hospital recreation. A number of approaches have been tried, with varying success. The following practice has not generally received the attention it merits--namely, the retention of our recognized periodicals in the reading room of the medical library of each hospital with a recreation program.

It is here that the physician, resident physician, or intern spends many of his "leisure" moments on the job, browsing for relaxation as well as for his continued education. Here, he welcomes a change from his otherwise crowded and tense schedule. Why not capitalize on this "psychological moment" in the interest, not only of our profession, but more significantly, of the patients whom we help to serve?

It is highly recommended that hospital recreation personnel make every effort to assure that at least the following be maintained in the current periodical section of their respective medical libraries: Journal of Health, Physical Education, Recreation (AAHPER), Recreation (NRA), The Bulletin (ARS), and Recreation for the Ill and Handicapped (NART).

It is tantalizing to approximate the impact this approach would have had in orienting physicians in our profession, had the practice been followed uniformly over the past ten years.

New Correspondence Course

Having experienced success with its first correspondence course on "Orientation to Recreation in Hospitals," the Physical Education Department, Division of Recreation Leadership, University of Minnesota, has announced a new course entitled "Methods in Supervision of Recreation," now available to personnel of our profession. The course is reported to be particularly geared toward the supervisor in a medical setting; it is taught by Professor Fred M. Chapman. For further information, write Professor F. Lloyd Hansen, director Correspondence Study Department, at the University of Minnesota.

Originally published in the December 1957 JHPER, v28, issue 9, page 41...

UCLA Institute

The University of California at Los Angeles will conduct a Recreation in Rehabilitation Institute, April 16-18, 1958. This is the first such institute on the West Coast; it will be concerned with recreation in hospitals, nursing homes, and schools and institutions for the physically and mentally handicapped. For further information, write the Recreation Education Unit, Dept. of Physical Education, UCLA, 405 Hilgard Ave., Los Angeles, Calif.

Another VA Affiliation

Authorization has been granted Veterans Administration hospitals at Dallas and Waco, Texas, for affiliation with the college of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation of Texas Woman's University, to provide opportunities for the training of students for hospital recreation. The affiliations were approved following a visit to the campus by B. E. Phillips, representing the VA, and Harlan G. Metcalf, State University of New York, Cortland, and Paul Haun, M.D., director of psychiatric education, New Jersey State Dept. of Institutions and Agencies, serving as professional consultants to the VA. See this column in the May-June 1957 Journal for a report on other VA affiliations, and the December 1956 Journal for the "Standards for the VA Recreation Trainee."

Interdisciplinary Study Group

The American Occupational Therapy Association has taken the initiative in bringing together representatives from several disciplines involved in the therapeutic care and treatment of the mentally ill, to explore problems concerning their respective roles and functions. This group, the Interdisciplinary Study Group, has recommended the formation of a permanent coordinating council. This council would be composed of representatives of corrective therapy, educational therapy, hospital library service, hospital recreation, manual arts therapy, music therapy, occupational therapy, social group work, other activity disciplines having national organizations, and a consultant representative from the American Psychiatric Association. Lucy Fairbank, representing the Council for the Advancement of Hospital Recreation, is servicing as secretary.

VA Steps Up Education Program

On Sept. 30-Oct. 2, the San Francisco Area Medical Office of the Veterans Administration conducted a Hospital Recreation Workshop in conjunction with the 39th National Recreation Congress at Long Beach, Calif. Participating in the workshop were approximately 40 VA hospital recreation personnel, most of whom represented hospitals in the seven states in the San Francisco area, and an additional 30 resource persons. The theme was "New Horizons for Hospital Recreation."

This was one of several hospital recreation conferences which the VA has conducted, or in which it has taken an active sponsoring role, this calendar year. Others were as follows:

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