PSYCHIATRIC WORK THERAPY IN THE SOVIET UNION
JOSEPH WORTIS M.D.1, and
DAVID FREUNDLICH M.D.1
1 The Jewish Hospital of Brooklyn, Brooklyn, N. Y.
Work therapy in the Soviet Union, in both theory and practice, has its counterparts in this country, and cannot be regarded as unique. Its special features however are:
1. The great emphasis placed on its role in the treatment and rehabilitation of psychiatric patients.
2. The extensive investment of plant and equipment to promote its use.
3. The close relationship that is maintained between the sheltered work in a psychiatric setting and the normal work outside.
4. The emphasis on group work.
5. The extremely varied and individualized forms of work therapy that the state provides.
6. And finally there may well be a greater willingness among normal Russian workers to accept in their midst and to assist a convalescent or chronic psychiatric patient.
