New Zealand children's health camps: therapeutic landscapes meet the contract state

This paper surveys the history and current status of children's health camp s in New Zealand, and places these sites within the theoretical context of therapeutic landscapes. The first health camp was established in 1919, and the seven current camps provide respite, education and health care for appr oximately 4000 children each year. We analyse the health-place relations in herent in the health camp concept and suggest that the 'therapeutic landsca pe' idea developed by Gesler provides a useful framework to explain the dev elopment of camps as sites for enhancing child and family welfare. Specific ally, we contend that changing understandings of health and children have b een closely linked with changing perceptions of what is therapeutic about t he camps. Survey data demonstrate that contemporary restructuring of the we lfare state has recast the role of health camps and placed them in a precar ious position in terms of both financial viability and public acceptability . We conclude that the current status of health camps is ambiguous given th e pressures of deinstitutionalisation philosophies and the regulatory envir onment of formal contracts between funders and providers. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.