- 77 5. Treatment of patients psz@psz 238. Nearly all patients were confined throughout the day in surroundings which - as already indicated - were totally impersonal and devoid of privacy. There were various reasons for this: locked entrances; absence, except in a few cases, of outdoor recreation areas laid out around the buildings; physical impossibility of movement without assistance and/or suitable equipment for the majority of elderly or handicapped patients. The treatment of patients essentially consisted of medication to control their behaviour. Patients usually had no activities or stimulation capable of vitalising their potential. Their appearance was, in general, uncared-for or even dirty. a. therapeutic activities 239. At the Attica State Mental Hospital the delegation visited an occupational therapy centre catering for some 120 hospital patients per week. The centre operated only in the morning (until 2.30 pm). Patients were occupied with weaving, tapestry/embroidery, ceramics, basket-making, coppersmithing, glass engraving, shoemaking and typing. There was also a music therapy room. Unfortunately, the location of the occupational therapy centre made it inaccessible to many patients. 240. In the Lepida and Lakki Public Health Establishments, patients' inactivity was very striking. Of all the patients, some 25 were permanently employed in an outside workshop, 20 or so in the farming co-operative, and between 4 and 10 in the various pavilions and the kitchen; in summer, 6 to 10 were given cleaning jobs by the Leros local authority. In some of the pavilions (XI and XV and general medicine department), the delegation saw craft workshops where a few patients could engage in activities such as painting, handiwork and knitting, offering thereby a rather more diversified atmosphere. Further, some of the more able patients helped with the elementary care of other patients in their pavilions, and were paid for that work. 241. In the Hospital for children with special needs an even worse state of inactivity was observed. Patients were regarded as having low developmental potential, and provision was made only for their basic needs. In particular, the wide age range of the patients, together with staff shortages, precluded any educational activities, of which these patients stood in great need. Those who had reached adulthood had been "ingested" by the institution, with no prospect of being released and cared for in the outside community. 242. At the State Mental Hospital for children at Rafina, the delegation was unable to obtain exact information on the number of children and young people involved in social therapy activities. The CPT would like to receive information on existing social therapy activities and the number of children taking part. The delegation nonetheless observed that patients were generally under-stimulated and provided with few individual activities. The apparent lack of therapy specific to the psychomotor disabilities and mental conditions of patients in pavilion E deserves particular mention.