Patversmes hroniski slimajiem Rīgā, Telts ielā 1, darbība: ieskats 20. gadsimta 20. gadu sociālajā vidē

The Chronically Ill Asylum on Telts Street 1, opened in 1903, was a unique institution by uniting the function of the social care institution and also the possibility to gain medical help. The institution was aimed at the most vulnerable groups of society – the “chronically ill” disabled adults with different kinds of uncurable diseases. An institution on Telts Street was the oldest institution of this kind. Another similar institution was established in 1913 near the Telts Street asylum – on Ģimnastikas Street. Compared to the asylum on Telts Street it was an institution for the chronic ally ill, who could pay for themselves. The institution on Ģimnastikas Street was the biggest, but on Telts Street – the second biggest asylum in Riga by the number of dependents. In 1926, Telts Street Asylum lost the function of the medical institution. The meaning of the word “disabled” (“nespējnieks”) in Latvian is complicated and can relate to every type (or complex) of disability to work. The Paper aims to analyse the operation of the asylum on Telts Street for the first years in the Latvian Republics – from 1919 to 1929 on the basis of the available protocols and other documents on the operation of the asylum on Telts Street in the State Historical Archive of the National Archive of Latvia. Also, periodical materials and statistical data were used. The documents of the operation of the asylum are unique and pre viously not researched sources. The analysis allowed us to look not only into the operation of one of the institutions of the Social Care department in Riga and to “hear the voices” of the disabled, their opinions, and emo tions, which however, were not always justified and valid. In most cases, documents are complaints (both from staff and disabled), which is a con tradictious document, because the aim of those documents was not to show the good practices, but to highlight the violations and malpractices. However, the fact that both the employees and those dependent on them – the disabled had an opportunity to complain and those complaints were heard, indicates a democratic management model in the institution sub ordinated to the Social Welfare Department of Riga – the disabled asylum. The paper shows, that after complaints there were inspections of the respon sible persons, and it influenced and improved the work in the asylum. Both employees and dependents wrote about emotional burnout and unstable mental health issues. For example, after 10 years on duty in Telts Street asylum, the medical commission concluded, that the health of the fifth man ager had deteriorated and his work abilities as a manager decreased to 50 %. Other employees of the asylum were characterized as “nervous”. The data about the social milieu or social environment in the asylum on Telts Street asylum correlates with the data about the Latvian soci ety in the researched period – when the level of social welfare began to rise and the number of disabled in Telts Street asylum started slowly to decrease, the employees stayed longer and there was a sense of stability. Here we can conclude that war and innumerable changes of the political powers traumatized Latvian society. In the first decade of the existence of the Latvian state, difficult conditions of the Telts Street asylum were determined by many circum stances – lack of inventory, food supplies and staff. The work in an asylum, regardless of the position was physically and emotionally hard, and the sal aries were small and work was done by the people who were not suitable for this work, or lacked previous experience. Disabled had different social backgrounds, age groups, diseases and tempers. There were lot of suicides or attempts by the disabled. The main reason for suicides was the pain and lack of proper treatment and care.