A case study of the development of occupational therapy at St. Patrick’s Hospital Dublin, 1935-1969

Dr Eamon O'Sullivan: psychiatrist and forgotten pioneer of occupational therapy

OBJECTIVES

This paper provides a brief overview of the history of occupational therapy in psychiatry in Ireland and explores why the contribution of an early Irish psychiatrist and proponent of occupational therapy, Dr Eamon O'Sullivan (1897-1966), was not fully recognised in the decades after his retirement in 1962.

METHODS

A review of selected key reports, papers and publications related to the history of occupational therapy was undertaken.

RESULTS

Eamon O'Sullivan was appointed Resident Medical Superintendent at Killarney Mental Hospital Co. Kerry in 1933 and developed an occupational therapy department at the hospital from the 1930s until his retirement in 1962. He wrote one of the first textbooks of occupational therapy published in 1955. His occupational therapy philosophy reflects the early decades after the formalisation of the profession in 1917 when beliefs about the curative properties of occupation flourished and professional education programmes were scarce. By the time O'Sullivan's textbook was published it received a lukewarm reception within occupational therapy as it did not reflect 1950s practice and professional philosophy. The professionalisation of occupational therapy in Ireland in the 1960s was also a factor in the lack of acknowledgement of O'Sullivan's contribution to the profession.

CONCLUSION

Practice and professional philosophy change and the paper concludes by considering O'Sullivan's work in light of contemporary occupational therapy which once again places occupation at its centre and emphasises the importance of balance, health and wellbeing.

Anthropological perspectives on the trajectory from institutionalisation to community care in Irish psychiatry

The trajectory of the anthropology of Irish psychiatry, like the trajectory of Irish psychiatry itself, is indelibly shaped by the history of Ireland's mental hospitals. This paper focuses on three works concerning the anthropology of psychiatry in Ireland: Nancy Scheper-Hughes's book, Saints Scholars and Schizophrenics: Mental Illness in Rural Ireland, an anthropological study (1977/2001); Eileen Kane's paper, 'Stereotypes and Irish identity: mental illness as a cultural frame', from Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review (1986) and Michael D'Arcy's conference paper, 'The hospital and the Holy Spirit: psychotic subjectivity and institutional returns in Dublin, Ireland' (2015), based on his PhD dissertation. All three publications explore the relationship between institutional and community psychiatric care in Ireland, concluding with the work of D'Arcy which, like much good anthropology, is rooted in the lived experience of mental illness and combines deep awareness of the past with tolerance of multiple, ostensibly contradictory narratives in the present.

Development of occupational therapy in Grangegorman hospital, Dublin: 1934-1954

Purpose

In the early to mid-twentieth century, psychiatrist-led occupational therapy departments emerged in Irish psychiatric hospitals. This marked a transition towards establishing rehabilitative services in institutional settings. This paper aims to examine the development of occupational therapy in Grangegorman Mental Hospital and its auxiliary hospital, Portrane Mental Hospital from 1934-1954.

Design/methodology/approach

Historical documentary research methods were used to analyse primary source data from Grangegorman Committee Minutes, Inspector of Mental Hospital Reports, Boroughs of Mental Hospitals, Department of Foreign Affairs documents and newspaper archives. The archival data was analysed using both a chronological and thematic approach.

Findings

The main key event emerged in 1935 when four Grangegorman nursing staff were sent to Cardiff Mental Hospital to undergo a six month training course in occupational therapy. The following themes emerged – “establishing occupational therapy in Grangegorman and Portrane”; “the role of short-course trained nursing staff in providing occupational therapy services” and “therapeutic rationales vs hospital management rationales”.

Originality/value

This study throws light on the early practitioners of occupational therapy in Grangegorman and highlights the complexities of occupational therapy’s role origins in mid-twentieth century Ireland. In line with contemporaneous psychiatric hospitals, the occupational therapy activities promoted in Grangegorman were mainly handicraft or productivity based. The absence of patients’ voices means there are limitations to determining the therapeutic nature of this early occupational therapy service.