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A History and Memoir of Institutional Care 

2020    

Jack Martin

Starting in 1911, and for many years, the Alberta Hospital Ponoka, or AHP, was the largest and highest-population psychiatric institution in the Western Canadian Province of Alberta. It was also located on the outskirts of Jack Martin's hometown, and his father was employed there, which means that its story and Martin's intersect in varied and interesting ways.

In Hometown Asylum, Martin explores the Hospital's history, along with some of his own. In this journey, Martin considers past and contemporary issues in mental health services and treatments from the perspectives of those receiving them, those attempting to provide them, and the citizens whose attitudes and tax dollars inevitably guide and contribute to these efforts…