Development of a Psychological Program in a Tuberculosis Hospital

¹ The Veterans Administration Hospital, San Fernando, California, and the Department of Medicine, University of California School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California.

Experiences encountered during the first six months of a psychological service in a Veterans Administration tuberculosis hospital are described as follows:

1) The staff consisted of one full-time clinical psychologist and one part-time psychiatrist.

2) Activities engaged in were psychodiagnostic testing, individual and group psychotherapy, teaching, and consultation. A proportionately large share of staff time was devoted to individual psychotherapy, requests for which outnumbered those for other types of service.

3) Treatment of patients with group psychotherapy suggested a need for modification of this technique in its application to tuberculous patients.

4) The attitude of patients toward the service was generally favorable, although resistance was encountered which might be expected in any non-psychiatric setting.

5) The need for a closer working relationship with the medical staff and other hospital personnel was discussed.

6) Plans for expansion of the program were described as follows: Assignment to the hospital of psychology trainees, testing and interviewing of all newly admitted patients, organization of this data for research purposes, scheduling of a weekly psychosomatic conference, and emphasis on consultation with the ward physicians in order to work indirectly through them in the psychological treatment of patients.