Air As Therapy: Open-Air Treatment For Mental And Physical Disease 1890-1914

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Disability Wisdom for the Covid-19 Pandemic" , at the 2021 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

In May 2020, Professor Alan Penn of the British Government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) told MPs that ‘science suggests that being outside in sunlight, with good ventilation, are both highly protective against transmission of the [corona]virus.’ Present-day medical researchers are not the first to link fresh air to the prevention and treatment of disease. In 1892, a Norfolk medic, Dr Jane Walker was inspired by German examples to open the first English premises offering ‘open-air treatment’, in this case to tubercular patients. The treatment quickly became a medical ‘craze’ and a critical consideration for the materiality and practices of institutions and homes across Britain and Ireland. A variety of architectural forms and technological solutions were developed to maximise access to fresh air, indoors and out. This paper will examine the rise of this therapy and the reasons for its rapid adoption across Britain and Ireland.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2021   •
• Disability Wisdom for the Covid-19 Pandemic

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology