THE ORGANIZATION OF THE CARE OF CRIPPLES IN SWEDEN

¹ Section on Orthopaedic Surgery, The Mayo Foundation

There are two features of orthopaedics in Sweden that deserve special attention. The first is the high standard of the manipulative methods and the plaster, and brace work. The conservative methods are seen at their best, and in their greatest range. The second feature is the national organization for the care of cripples. The system has a place for every cripple. The rich, the poor, the young and the old, the institutional as well as the ambulatory cripple all find care and relief under the system. No one is neglected. Arrangements are made for patients from the remotest districts to come to the clinics. Patients who need treatment after long periods of time, even a life-time, have the opportunity of receiving it. The underlying principle of all care is to prevent the making of a cripple wherever possible, otherwise to diminish his invalidism to the minimum by orthopaedic treatment, education and vocational training. In a country the size of and with the economic condition of Sweden, the system in use works out to the advantage of the cripples, the profession, and the State in general.

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