Excerpt from Rehabilitation Programs and Facilities of Western Europe: A Report of a Survey Covering 12 Countries, Prepared Under Fellowship Grants From the Vocational Rehabilitation on Administration and the Fellowship Fund of the Langley Awards, the American Institute of Architects

The fundamental purposes of this survey as defined under the terms of the fellowship grant are as follows:

1. To evaluate and describe the development of rehabilitation facilities in the light of national needs and policies in the rehabilitation field.

2. To examine the present relationship which exists between the individual facility and the national program in regard to location, design, and methods of operation.

3. To organize the material on a systematic basis so that useful comparative judgments become possible.

During the visit to each country the first step consisted of discussions with persons in charge of various aspects of the rehabilitation program. These interviews included the Ministries of Health, Labor, and Social Affairs, and selected representatives of voluntary organizations. In this way it was possible to develop a preliminary understanding of the nature and direction of the program on a national basis and to select the facilities to be visited.

During each visit every attempt was made to obtain useful record photographs, plans, and detailed drawings of the buildings, as well as any published documents, monographs, or brochures which were available. In many cases publications were not available in English but were kept for future translation. The time necessary for each visit varied considerably. In some instances one-half day was sufficient. In other centers it was necessary to spend three or four days at the site to complete the work.

It was inevitable that some problems would develop in the course of this procedure. It was difficult in some countries to determine precisely which agency of government or which administrator was in fact directing the program of rehabilitation. Similarly, where voluntary organizations participated in the program on a national level, the exact relationship between this body and the national program was at times obscure. In several instances conflicting statements of policy and procedure appeared in the publications issued by national agencies and private organizations. At times it was only after visits were made to centers that a clear understanding could be gained of the role of the participating agencies. The published material on certain phases of the rehabilitation program was occasionally misleading. What was at times reported as established fact turned out to be paper programs awaiting further development. Statistical data did not always relate to the actual conditions in the individual centers.

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