Activities

Tuesday sounds like a blast, especially when you get to visit the "Psychotrist"

i just wanna see what they do on fridays lol. this is cool motts

This appears to have been written out by a patient rather than a staff member - and I'm very curious to know just what "sheltered workshop" is.

very cool

"snacks... dinner... medications..."

wow

Oh my god! That's like my schedule from work...

I'd normally say ' great shot, fabulous insight into the goings-on inside the institution', but then I have a good idea about them :P

Sweet! Snacks and BINGO!!!

Although this photo is a little creepy a piece of the past.

Sheltered Workshops are supposed to be a way for the disabled and challenged to make money and learn a trade, such as sewing, repair, product assembly, etc. What many of them have become is a dirty little secret for many in these communities. They are often used as a tax-free (sheltered) way to exploit the voiceless. Many of those who work in them are doing do under dangerous and unsanitary conditions, doing tasks that no one else wants to, such as removing the needles from medical waste syringes. They are paid virtually nothing, since the workshop charges "Transportation fees" for taking the workers there and back. There are many places where few, if any staff understand and can deal with special-needs persons and neglect is the norm. For more info on this, check out "everything you know is wrong" by disinfo . com.

"New Dementians". Variety is good. I revolve my dementias on a regular basis.

love how there is lunch at noon and cooking for fun at 1pm

Love this one Motts.

"Sheltered Workshop" sounds like it would be a scheduled activity for an individual--you know, like in solitary....

haha! obviously they meant "new dimensions! how ironic is it that they wrote "new demensions"?

So how's the weather? About 60 watts. Our ward joke of the day..

I never thought of "grooming" as applying to people...

'' BINGO "

I have no doubt this was written by staff. You have to remember that people who work as caregivers in this field are paid next to nothing. Often a high school diploma is not required.

WOW you get to shower on Wednesday only it seems. And yeah it was most likely written by a staff member.

mmm.. Look at the mildew & mold creeping through.

Love the photographs of manuals, notes and drawings, they're just so intersting. On sheltered workshops, these are common in centres that cater to special needs individuals. They can range from tailoring and handicrafts to farming to factory work and the patients are supposed to get paid a small salary though whether they actually do or not who knows. Some sheltered workshops are a combination of academics and work. And that is my two cents on the issue :D

Music / Lunch / Medication
THAT's for me!!, in that order.

"Dimensions" are somewhat demented! Guess these folks weren't hired for their spelling abilities!

cooking for fun and bingo. no wonder they were insane...

Ha 'cooking for fun' right after medication. And new 'demensions' - if that isn't the most ironic misspelling for this particular place! I'll BET they were demensions...

Wow, is it just me or does the word 'medication' seem to be the root of all of the problems to begin with. You can just about imagine the number of drugs these patients were on back then. Im all for drugs that help with life threatening conditions but usually ones that are designed to intervene in psychological behavior make things worse.

Trishawish, that is pretty ironic. I've seen "dimensions" spelled "dementions" as well although not in a psychiatric hospital :(

How come Ward 14 gets to have all the fun?

The different spelling of words (i.e. dimension, demension) and different handwriting makes me think staff members have written these schedules in pencil, probably in case of last-minute change of plans.

My father was a staff MD on the grounds of CI State Hospital and I grew up there from 1964 through 1968 (staff housing). As a young boy it was a wonderful place for a kid to ride bikes and enjoy the outdoors. We (my siblings and I) played baseball on the grounds and I learned how to play golf on its nine hole golf course. I have many fond memories of the place, unlike the patients that lived there. I still feel for those that lived and died at that hospital and many are buried on the grounds at it little cemetary which still exists today.

There isn't anything good on TV at 11am, the soaps haven't even started by then...so cruel.

Does anyone else find it totally demented that these poor people were being medicated 4 times a day? A little excessive?! Probably why they needed to be there in the first place. Overmedication is never a good thing!

Hi Zac,

Certain medications have to be divided up and given across the day to attain and maintain specific blood levels, such as anticonvulsants and Ritalin, to do their job effectively. Other medications may be effective when they reach a particular dose, but if you give the total dose all at once it knocks the person out, so you divide it up and give it throughout the day to keep the person on an even keel. Another example is people with diabetes who usually have their insulin spaced out across the day to keep their blood sugar within specific limits. It is not unusual for a number of non-psychiatric medications to be given multiple times per day, such as antibiotics, post-transplant medications, hypertensives, pain medication, antihistamines, bronchodilators, etc.

Additionally, there are many medications that need to be given at a different time than certain other medications or they change the effectiveness of one or both medications. Therefore you might need to take one drug in the morning and another drug in the evening. Same is true of food and/or herbal products. If you drink grapefruit juice, for example, you can't take a number of medications right afterwards because it will affect the amount of medication that your body can utilize.

It's not the number of times something is given - it's how much is needed to get to a particular therapeutic level, and whether a specific blood level needs to be maintained while the person is awake. Every year new studies are run and new medications are discovered and introduced, so until you know the specifics it's hard to be too critical. There are many "normal" people who take medications 4 times a day.

what the hell. i think they were playing favorites with ward 14.

Only an hour for TV??!. . . that would NEVER do.

What? No horseback riding???

The dour daily medication times also do not mean that every patient got medication at each med pass. Some might only get medication once or twice a day, or perhaps several medications in the morning and only one medication at night.

Nothing has changed much. This is the same sort of schedule we had when I was in the hospital, though "recreation" often meant sitting around the courtyard or walking around the gym or just watching movies.

I would like to sign up for bingo...

Perfect explanation, Lynne.

you guys should listen to lynne, she knows what shes talking about

So do I, ricanfromdabrox. Just from the other side.

Looks like a lot of recreation.....and meds.....recreation and meds......

BINGO AT SIX! COUNT ME IN!