Residents
Routine could best be described as the mainstay for life in the institution. With the large number of patients, life was strictly controlled and it is easy to see how quickly one could become institutionalized.
Keeping the patients occupied was considered extremely important in terms of their recovery, and it seems there was no shortage of work. Men were put to work on the farm, in the garden or dairy, or if they had particular skills, these were put to good use. One such resident, Peter Harley, was a skilled carver and was responsible for carving the honour board for the asylum as well as many other pieces. His output was so prodigious that an exhibition of his work was held in 2009 at the Ipswich Art Gallery.
Indeed, it can be said that the patients contributed fairly substantially to the building of the Asylum, certainly in the gardens and the running of the farm. Without their labour, this workwould not have been possible. The accounts show that the farm produce often made a considerable profit and they surely paid for their keep!
The women patients worked in the laundry and drying room and also sewed garments and other sundry items. The amount produced is quite remarkable.
Hours to be Observed in the
Asylum for the Insane at Woogaroo. (1880) 1 |
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|---|---|---|---|
| Summer |
Winter |
||
| A.M. | A.M. | ||
| 5.30 | 6.00 | Bell rung by night attendant. | |
| 5.45 | 6.15 | Attendants and nurses called by night attendants and nurses. | |
| 6.00 | 6.30 | The day attendants and nurses will enter on duty. | |
| 7.30 | 8.00 | The patients will breakfast. | |
| 8.00 | 8.30 | Attendants and nurses will breakfast (first mess). | |
| 8.30 | 9.00 | Attendants and nurses will breakfast (second mess). | |
| 9.00 | 9.30 | Outdoor attendants and nurses will take their parties to work. | |
| 12.00 | 11.45 | Patients will be returned from the recreation ground. Working parties will be returned to wards. |
|
| 12.30 | 12.00 | The patients will dine. | |
| P.M. | P.M. | ||
| 1.00 | 12.30 | The attendants and nurses will dine (first mess). | |
| 1.30 | 1.00 | The attendants and nurses will dine (second mess). | |
| 2.00 | 1.30 | Outdoor attendants and nurses will take their parties to work. | |
| 2.30 | 2.00 | Patients will be sent to recreation ground. | |
| 4.45 | 4.30 | Patients will be returned from the recreation ground. Working parties will be returned to wards. | |
| 5.30 | 5.00 | The patients will have supper. | |
| 6.00 | 5.30 | Attendants and nurses will have supper (first mess). | |
| 6.20 | 5.50 | Attendants and nurses will have supper (second mess). | |
| 7.00 | 6.30* | The patients will go to bed. Night attendants and nurses enter upon duty. | |
| NOTE. - The winter months extend from 1st May to
31st August. The summer months extend from 1st September to 30th April. *These hours will in a great measure depend upon the degree of light. |
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Of course, not all of them always cooperated and Dr Foxton made note of this in his report of 1914 - “The females are a troublesome lot, and, as a rule, only one or two can be persuaded to sew.” He also went on to say that, “Attendants have now not infrequently to do work which in former years there were reliable patients to do. This tendency must add to the increasing cost of conducting the institution.”2
Fresh air was considered paramount, and if they could not work, then a large part of their day would be spent outside in the exercise yards. Some work in the wards such as mopping the floors and cleaning the windows, was also done by the patients, . Book binding was another skill they developed and examples of their work can be seen today in the binding of the Mental Hygiene Act and Backward Person’s Act. It was thought that having nothing to do was possibly the worst thing for a patient in terms of their recovery.
Equally important was recreation. Entertainment was often provided by local church bands and choirs. Dances were held weekly in the recreation hall. Patients were strictly segregated to opposite sides of the hall when they were not dancing. Patients could also dance with the staff. Staff organized fancy dress balls which the patients loved. For those that could play, there was the tennis court and the golf course, and for some patients cards were played at night. Television was introduced to the wards in the 1960s.
“An entertainment for the amusement of the patients at the Sandy Gallop Lunatic Asylum will be given on Saturday afternoon in that institution. The programme will be principally composed of musical selections, and as several members of the various church choirs have kindly consented to take part in the proceedings, the patients will doubtless be afforded a pleasant afternoon's enjoyment. ”3
by the 1960’s the farm had become considerably run down as able bodied patients were no longer plentiful to do the work, even though patient numbers had peaked at 660 in 1961. With the change to the Challinor Centre as a centre for intellectual disability in 1968, the idea of work being an important part of recovery was now seen as more to do with skill development to give the patients greater autonomy in their lives.
In 1976, the minister for health, Dr Llew Edwards (now Sir Llew Edwards), introduced the Health Paper, wherein it acknowledged that the intellectually disabled should lead as normal and integrated lives within the community as possible and not an institutionalized lifestyle. The residents would have Residential Care Workers to help them with this transition, and hopefully with life outside the institution. Many activities were introduced to help the residents develop these skills, such as learning to cook for themselves, the ability to move about freely instead of being locked in their rooms, and the integration of residents into family modules between eight to twelve members with threecarers. Personal grooming courses proved very popular and there were more outings organized for residents. The Alternative Living Service was formed in 1980 which allowed direct care staff to work in community housing with clients to help them make a successful transition into the community.
One initiative was the instigation of home visits for residents, whereby they were taken to visit their relatives at their home in the morning and be collected in the afternoon. Some relatives felt the institution was not always welcoming of their visits and many had ceased to come. This service renewed contact, and meetings did not have to take place at the Centre. The introduction of inviting the family to Christmas parties allowed relatives for the first time to see where their family member lived and provided a more relaxed atmosphere for the meeting.
A toy and equipment library was also established at Dagmar House and this proved to be a very popular innovation as was the Dagmar Coffee Shop, which saw many residents enjoying a cup of coffee of an evening. Life had changed dramatically for the residents and the changes were all positive.
However, with all the change came dwindling numbers of residents, as they progressed to community housing and the announcement that the centre would close. Their contribution to life at the Centre was to be marked by a special project - the Challinor Tile Project – and this remarkable and moving artwork is on display in the foyer of Building 12.
1. Queensland, Parliament 1880, Rules and Regulations of the Asylum for the Insane. Queensland Government Gazette. April-June. p.1037
2. Queensland, Parliament 1914, Report of the Medical Superintendent, Hospital for the Insane, Ipswich. Parl. Papers 3rd Session of 19th Parliament. Vol. 2. Pt.2, Brisbane. p.24
3. (1885, Feb 28). Brisbane Courier. p.3