Industrys contribution in the field of rehabilitation

摘要

Two main groups of people are concerned in rehabilitation in industry: the permanently disabled and those temporarily put out of action by reason of accident or illness. The first group has been dealt with by legislation and by creating rehabilitation centres and training centres. The rehabilitation of the temporarily disabled has on the whole not been developed to the same extent.The speed of recovery after an illness, and especially after an accident, is very much related to efficient initial treatment and after-care. If the treatment takes place in hospital, the discharge from hospital, often due to lack of beds, takes place in a critical phase when the after-care should be supervised. Team-work between hospitals, physiotherapists, and industries at this period can do useful work in rehabilitating the temporarily disabled.The most important problem to industry is the rehabilitation of minor injuries and illnesses, because they are so common. At the Vauxhall Motors Ltd factory, with over 12 000 employees, rehabilitation has been carried out since 1945 in a special retraining shop which accommodates 60 patients. In six years some 2300 patients have passed through this shop. Although priority has been given to works' casualties, over 50% of the cases have been non-occupational injuries or illnesses. About 25% of the patients were fracture cases, and of these 90% were able to return to their pre-disability jobs within six weeks.Although rest and prolonged immobilization may be necessary in the treatment of injuries, movements, especially repetitive movements, may be very useful in preventing joint stiffness, and improving muscle tone and blood circulation. Carried out under careful medical supervision, they will not counteract the rapid healing of bone and soft-tissue lesions. Substitution of engineering techniques for the conventional handicraft methods of occupational therapy is one of the most important developments in the field of rehabilitation. Spindle drilling-machines, sometimes with a special grip, and bench work, sometimes with leg operations, have been most useful in creating suitable movements for patients in the retraining shop.The success of this method of rehabilitation can be shown from the fact that the average period of absence for a septic finger has been reduced from 22.5 to 1.86 days.This experience of the rehabilitation of the temporarily disabled comes from a large industry. For smaller industries where such a scheme would not be practicable, the problem might be solved by establishing group industrial rehabilitation centres, attached to up-to-date and well-staffed hospitals.