The Case of Lena

History provides context for understanding.  We are so far removed from the daily life struggles of 100 years ago and our own experiences are so very different that it is difficult for us to develop a clear understanding of  why events unfolded the way that they did.Occupational therapy is a health related profession that was born from the crucible of American society and culture at the turn of the 20th century.  As such, events from those times greatly influenced the thinking of our primary founders.George Edward Barton lived in Clifton Springs in Ontario County on the street behind the Clifton Springs Sanitarium (private) which had a capacity of 400 patients.  The Ontario County Sanitorium for Consumptives (Oak Mount) was the public facility, previously known as the County ' Poor House ' in nearby East Bloomfield and had a capacity of around 40 patients.Barton was motivated by realities of the public health crisis of tuberculosis.  He was motivated because of living in the shadow of the Clifton Springs Sanitarium, and by the stories that he read in his local paper (below), and by the reality that he was also afflicted with this terrible disease.Understanding Barton ' s motivations yields important information about his values and beliefs and the ' cure ' that he believed could be achieved through occupation.  This reprinted article is an exemplar of daily struggles that people had at the time, and subsequent blog entries will outline his specif...
Source: ABC Therapeutics Occupational Therapy Weblog - Category: Occupational Health Tags: Barton history Source Type: blogs