Film and Radio Guide (Oct 1945-Jun 1946)

18 FILM AND RADIO GUIDE Volume XII, No. 2 Audio-Visual Aids in Educational Reconditioning in an A. S. F. Hospital BY JAMES A. HEDRICK First Lieutenant, Signal Corps and JOSEPH MERSAND Technical Sergeant, Detachment, Medical Department A.S.F. Regional Hospital, Camp Crowder, Missouri The Reconditioning Program as practiced by the Medical Department of the U. S. Army will interest all proponents of the extensive use of audio-visual aids in teaching. Its purpose is to “accelerate the return to duty of convalescent soldiers in the highest state of physical and mental efficiency consistent with their capacities and the type of duty to which they will be assigned. Or, if the soldier is disqualified for further military service, the Reconditioning Program must provide for his return to civilian life, conditioned to the highest possible degree of physical fitness, well oriented in the responsibilities of citizenship, and prepared to adjust successfully to social and vocational pursuits. The mission is accomplished by a coordinated program of Educational Reconditioning, Physical Reconditioning, and Occupational Therapy.”^ Since Camp Crowder was essentially a training camp for the Signal Corps and recently for the Medical Corps, the primary aim of the Reconditioning Program at this installation was to get convalescents back to full duty in the shortest possible time. ^War Department Technical Manual 8-290, Advance Copy, December 1944, p. 2. "Ibid, p. 2. Educational Reconditoning is defined as “the process of exciting, stimulating and activating the minds of convalescent patients through education, orientation, and information, thereby encouraging mental attitudes conducive to health and normal activity. Educational reconditioning will refresh the soldier’s military knowledge, add new military and non-military education to his store of knowledge, develop new skills he has already acquired, and in general, keep his mind mentally alert. In all phases of reconditioning, audio-visual aids are used to a considerable extent. Some of them as used in the A.S.F. Regional Hospital, Camp Crowder, Missouri, one of the first hospitals to have reconditioning for A.S.F. personnel, will be described in this article. In the days before reconditioning, the wounded, injured, or sick soldier who was required to spend a considerable time in a hospital ward had few means of relieving the boredom and mental stagnation which inevitably set in. To be sure, he might buy a daily newspaper or magazines, might listen to the radio, or even borrow a book from the hospital library. But for the greater portion of the day there was nothing for him to do but stare at the blank walls or play cards or doze. Small wonder that he lost interest in soldiering, that he forgot his basic or specialist training, that he began to feel that he had “done his part” and that now it was up to the other guy. These conditions represented a challenge to the Education Department of the Reconditioning Service. Some of the methods employed to meet the challenge will now be mentioned. To keep all soldiers aware of the global war and of the swiftly moving and shifting battle-lines, “Newsmaps” were posted in every ward in the hospital. These maps were prepared by the Information and Education Division, Headquarters, Army Service Forces, Washington, D. C. and were published every two weeks. On one side of these sheets are maps of current activities. On the other side is information of more permanent interest. It may be a picture of the newest American battleship, an analysis of costs of various military items, or a slogan. Sometimes Newsmaps are of definite areas which can be consulted for longer periods of time. One is of Southeast Asia, another of the Philippines, a third of New Guinea, a fourth of Europe. The average ward in this hospital has had a large-size map, about 40 inches square, of almost every theatre of action.