Three divisions of the work of re-training the disabled soldier developed as progress was made with this task, viz.: (1) Ward Occupations; (2) Curative Workshops; (3) Industrial Re-training. These will be taken up in the order named.
1. Ward Occupations. Basketry, weaving, leather work and other handicrafts were taught to the men in hospital right in the wards, as recreational activity, during the time of convalescence when the soldiers, as patients, are not advanced far enough in their recovery to leave their beds or to take up serious education.
2. Curative Workshops. Every hospital had either a separate vocational building or a portion of its space set aside for curative workshops. Here were held a variety of classes for men taking treatment who were able to leave their wards and who wished to study some subjects which would be of advantage to them when they were discharged from hospital and would re-enter civilian life or take up training for a new occupation.
3. Industrial Re-Training. This was the most important division of the work and, in fact, constituted the main activity of the Vocational Branch of the Department of Soldiers’ Civil Re-establishment. All soldiers who received a disability in military service through disease, accident or wounds which prevented them from returning to their old occupations, were entitled to industrial re-training. Any man who enlisted under the age of eighteen, and whose apprenticeship or training for some useful occupation was seriously interrupted by the War, was also entitled to an industrial re-training course. Thousands of men had to be intensively trained for hundreds of different occupations in the shortest possible time. During their courses they and their dependants received pay and allowances to support themselves. Every kind of institution which offered definite vocational training was utilized, but a great proportion of the men were placed in industry itself to learn their new occupations. Special trade classes and schools had to be organized and equipped by the Department of Soldiers’ Civil Re-establishment to meet the new need. The main aim was to train the disabled soldiers and minors in six to ten months, so that they could earn the prevailing wage in suitable vocations. This aim was realized with results that have amply justified the predictions of experts in industrial education and the enormous expenditure of money necessary. The development of the three main divisions of the vocational work in Nova Scotia is interesting and illuminating, and promises much for the future in pointing the way to further developments in our hospital treatment and the reclaiming of the productive power of our men who have been or will be crippled by accident or disease.
It was very evident from the first experience with returned disabled soldiers in Canadian convalescent hospitals, that they needed some definite work to engage their attention just as soon as they were able to do it. After a prolonged illness their morale was very low, and many were convinced that they were so badly disabled that they would never be good for anything again. Nerves, muscles, and tendons which had been seriously damaged by wounds, could be healed and brought back to part of their former power by operative treatment, massage, electric therapy, etc., but at a certain stage further improvement could take place only through the action of the will of the patient. At this point the soldier will try to make his damaged body function properly if he is absorbed in some interesting task.
Consequently, handicraft work was introduced into the hospitals under the title of ward occupations. In the summer of 1917 volunteers from the V.A.D. of the St. John Ambulance Association were trained in different handicrafts at the Nova Scotia Technical College, and gave their services to the patients at Camp Hill and Pine Hill Hospitals. The value of the work soon became apparent, and a central training school for ward aides, as the handicraft teachers were called, was opened in Toronto. Young women of education, character, and aptitude were carefully selected for this work, and as soon as they had been given training, they were placed in every military hospital and sanitarium. They co-operated with the medical officers and nursing sisters in every particular, and a combined effort was made to get every patient busy at some kind of work just as soon as he was able to do anything. Basketry, weaving, embroidery, leather tooling, raffia work, toy-making, wood carving, art craft, metal work, and other forms of occupation were provided. The chief difficulty was in first getting the individual interested; and this task took an immense amount of tact and persuasion in some instances.
The underlying motive was to divert the man’s mind from its morbid state and to give him a mental stimulus back toward civilian life. In the majority of cases, the patient would make artistic objects for his relatives and friends. If he wished to keep the articles he merely paid for the cost of the material, but if he did not want them the Vocational Branch offered them for sale at a fair commercial value, deducted the cost of raw materials and gave the balance to the patient. There was no idea of instructing the men in gainful trades Which they could follow after their discharge.
Too high a tribute cannot be paid to the high character and ability and the unflagging devotion of the Nova Scotia Ward Aides. They gave the same high form of unselfish, patriotic service that was characteristic of the best groups of women workers. The ward occupations were of enormous benefit in making the weary hours of the days pass quickly, in improving the discipline in the institutions, and in materially shortening the time of treatment in many cases. The handicraft work has been specially developed for insane patients, and helps to fill the pathetic lives of the soldiers confined in the Nova Scotia Hospital for the Insane.
A large proportion of the men in the institutions were not confined to their wards. Their disabilities were such, or they had reached such an advanced stage in their treatment, that they were able to move about and to perform light work. For these cases there was only a half-hour a day of treatment, and the rest of the time might be spent in playing cards, in reading magazines, or in sheer idleness. There was great danger that the men might become “hospitalized” and unfitted for the stern tasks of industrial life. Therefore, curative workshops were provided, where a wide range of classes was held for six or seven hours a day. Practical and accomplished instructors were in charge of the various branches, and nearly every soldier, physically fit to pursue such studies, could find something of interest and value. Many of the patients had never had a fair chance to get a good education, and a goodly number who had had such an opportunity had not availed themselves of it. A few of the soldiers did not even know how to read and write. As mechanics, most of the soldiers had acquired such skill as they possessed in a careless and haphazard manner and were not thoroughly competent. To suit the general needs and tastes of the patients, instruction was offered in business English, practical arithmetic, practical algebra, geometry and trigonometry, bookkeeping, stenography and typewriting, telegraphy, mechanical and architectural drafting, gardening, woodworking, shoe repairing, automobile driving and repair, etc.
These adult students made amazing progress in their studies. Those who had forgotten all their mathematics, except the first four rules, covered years of school work in a few months, and in going over it the second time would never again forget it. Foreigners and men who were illiterate learned the rudiments of arithmetic and the English language in a surprisingly short time. Others were absorbed in the work of the different classes, and gained valuable knowledge according to their ability and the length of time they stayed in the hospital. For some of them, who were not entitled to industrial re-training after discharge, it was their only opportunity to get general or vocational education. For those who were so disabled that they could not return to their old occupations, the curative workshops offered a trying-out ground where they could test their aptitudes and often lay a solid basis for further training. It was a pathetic as well as an inspiring sight to see some grizzled hero bringing back muscular power to a scarred and withered arm in planing a piece of wood to make some piece of furniture for his home. The workshop offered practically the only method of treatment to the neurasthenic or “shell-shocked” patient. No medicine or massage or operation could help him, and only the stimulation of his self-interest in class work could get him to forget himself and thus gradually bring him back to normal.