AID TO DISABLED CIVILIANS

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27410, 24 July 1954, Page 2

AID TO DISABLED CIVILIANS

PROPOSED NATIONAL SCHEME MEETING ARRANGED IN CHRISTCHURCH Government proposals for a national scheme for the rehabilitation of disabled civilians will be outlined by J- Wogan, secretary of the rehabilitation committee of the Health Department, at a meeting to be held at Canterbury University College on Monday evening. The secretary of the Canterbury Council of Social Services (Mr W. L Cox) said yesterday that Dr. Wogan was visiting the main towns in New Zealand to try to assess the need for some sort of rehabilitation for handicapped persons. The scheme would include occupational terapy and physiotherapy, said Mr £ ox > but n was hoped that it would be much wider, and would cover new vocational training for occupations differing from those followed by persons before they were handicapped, and some form of sheltered occupation for persons who could not do normal work.

The meeting will be attended by representatives of many public bodies. They include social service agencies and associations, the Federation of Labour, Chamber of Commerce, Employers’ Association, hospital boards and other local bodies, and Public Service employees, • including representatives of the Health and Justice Departments. Vocational Guidance The chairman of the advisory committee of the Christchurch Vocational Guidance Centre (Mr R. H. McDonald) said yesterday that the centre was actively interested in proposals to establish a- civilian rehabilitation schema in New Zealand. The centre had the primary responsibility of the placement of disabled persons in jobs, and felt that any rehabilitation scheme should be a comprehensive one, said Mr McDonald. The centre thought it logical to graft any civilian scheme on to the existing former servicemen’s rehabilitation organisation, he said. “Under any scheme, disabled persons should include persons suffering from any illness, physical or mental," Mr McDonald said. “One of the most important factors of rehabilitation of any kind is the mental aspect. The task of winning back a disabled person’s self-confidence is equally as important as training him for a job. “Doctors consider that useful tasks such as chopping wood or painting a fence could be done at a rehabilitation centre. The doing of these jobs would play its part in bringing a man back to health and confidence,” Mr McDonald concluded.