Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Edited by
Philip Hazell
Longer-Term Psychiatric Inpatient Care
for Adolescents
Philip Hazell
Editor
Longer-Term
Psychiatric Inpatient
Care for Adolescents
A Multidisciplinary Treatment Approach
Editor
Philip Hazell
Walker Unit
Concord Centre for Mental Health
Concord, NSW, Australia
The University of Sydney
Sydney, NSW, Australia
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2022. This book is an open access
publication.
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Contents
1 Introduction 1
Philip Hazell
3 The Milieu 21
Fran Nielsen, Ariel Diaz, Meng Du, Kahlia Pollock, Jaileen
Alonzo, and Mark Rawlinson
4 Admission
and Discharge Planning 31
Isabelle Feijo, Steve Hoare, and Karen Sarmiento
5 Formulation
and Case Review 39
Philip Hazell
6 Nursing Care 49
Steve Hoare and Stephen Ho
7 Learning
Centre and School Reintegration 61
Isabelle Feijo, Steve Hoare, Amanda Scali, and
Jennifer Shumack
v
vi Contents
8 Family Therapy 69
Karen Sarmiento and Isabelle Feijo
9 Group Therapies 77
Fran Nielsen, Polly Kwan, and Nina Mather
10 Individual Psychotherapy 85
Tharushi Kaluarachchi, Karen Sarmiento, Matt Modini,
and Nina Mather
11 Art Therapy 95
Fran Nielsen
12 Music Therapy107
Joanne McIntyre
13 Occupational Therapy115
Polly Kwan
14 Speech
and Language Therapy127
Kelly Jones
16 Physical Wellbeing145
Ariel Diaz and Philip Hazell
17 The
Pharmacist and Pharmacotherapy153
Jacky Hanh, Philip Hazell, and Isabelle Feijo
18 The
Policy Context and Governance161
Beth Kotze
Contents vii
20 Postscript:
Responding to the COVID-19 Pandemic179
Stephen Ho, Isabelle Feijo, and Philip Hazell
Index187
Note on Contributors
Jaileen Alonzo is a registered nurse who has worked at the Walker Unit
since 2017.
Kia Currell is a senior dietician at the Concord Centre for Mental Health.
She trained at The University of Sydney and has worked across adult and
adolescent mental health in both inpatient and outpatient settings. She has
an interest in managing disordered eating behaviours in the context of
existing mental illness.
Ariel Diaz is a clinical nurse specialist at the Walker Unit, with a particu-
lar interest in sport and physical wellbeing.
Meng Du is a registered nurse who has worked at the Walker Unit for
several years.
Isabelle Feijo is a consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist and Unit
Director. She trained in Switzerland before relocating to Australia. She has
a special interest in family systems therapy.
Jacky Hanh is a clinical pharmacist with the Concord Centre for Mental
Health. Hanh has a special interest in psychopharmacology and manage-
ment of adverse drug reactions.
Philip Hazell is Conjoint Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
at The University of Sydney, School of Medicine and a consultant child
and adolescent psychiatrist with the Sydney Local Health District. In for-
mer roles as director of child and adolescent mental health services
for the Hunter and Sydney Local Health Districts respectively, he was
ix
x NOTE ON CONTRIBUTORS
xiii
xiv ABBREVIATIONS
Fig. 2.1 Phase of build at the time the ward was repurposed from an
adult extended stay unit to an adolescent high severity
longer-stay unit 11
Fig. 2.2 The Walker Unit floor plan at the time of commissioning 12
Fig. 2.3 Adaptations made to improve safety 14
Fig. 2.4 Adaptations to improve safety 15
Fig. 2.5 Adaptations to improve safety 16
Fig. 3.1 De-escalation tree 27
Fig. 4.1 Assessment and pre-admission process 35
Fig. 4.2 Summary diagram of admission information 37
Fig. 6.1 Example of a care plan (p. 1) 54
Fig. 6.2 Example of a care plan (p. 2) 55
Fig. 6.3 Summary of level system 57
Fig. 6.4 Hierarchy of nursing intervention. (Reproduced with
permission from Spencer, S. (2017). Nursing Responses and
Interventions for Episodes of Adolescent Distress in an Acute
Child and Adolescent Mental Health Inpatient Unit: An
Interpretive Descriptive Study. (Unpublished Doctoral
Dissertation) University of Newcastle) 58
Fig. 7.1 Example of a school integration care plan (p. 1) 66
Fig. 7.2 Example of a school integration care plan (p. 2) 67
Fig. 8.1 Example of a genogram 71
Fig. 8.2 Stages of leave 73
Fig. 9.1 Timetable for the Walker Unit Group Therapy Program.
The program is displayed in the living area of the ward and
includes visuals which give an indication of the group content
and the names of the staff who will run it 80
xv
xvi List of Figures
xvii
List of Boxes
xix
CHAPTER 1
Introduction
Philip Hazell
Mental disorders are the most prevalent illnesses in adolescence and have
the potential to carry the greatest burden of illness (WHO, 2014) and
stigma into adult life. Governments in higher income countries have
responded to this challenge by allocating more resources for
P. Hazell (*)
Walker Unit, Concord Centre for Mental Health, Concord, NSW, Australia
The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
e-mail: Philip.Hazell@health.nsw.gov.au
To improve care for young people with significant impairment who require
treatment in an inpatient setting due to continuing risk, two new additional
specialist non-acute inpatient units will be established with state-wide roles
and appropriate design and staffing arrangements for those who are still
receiving involuntary treatment. NSW does not currently have specialised
units of this type for young people. Care pathways to and from these units
will be carefully considered and the allocations will need to factor access to
families/carers and other community supports with appropriate accommo-
dation options for visitors. (referenced in NSW Health, 2011)
Funding for the first of these units was announced in 2007, to be situated
on the campus of a newly opened psychiatric hospital, and in close proxim-
ity to other CAMH services and a general hospital. After a planning phase
of approximately 18 months, the unit opened in 2009. The purpose of this
book is to describe the multidisciplinary model of care delivered by the
1 INTRODUCTION 3
Chronic and unremitting eating disorder was also considered, but lack
of sufficient medical support especially for children under the age of 16
4 P. HAZELL
the development and recovery of the young person. Weekly family therapy
is designed to promote the lasting change required within the family sys-
tem in order to help the young person maintain their mental health post
discharge. An admission to the Walker Unit involves several phases encom-
passing assessment, the establishment of a therapeutic alliance, defining
therapeutic goals, implementation of treatment strategies, and finally,
planning transfer of care to facilitate re-integration into community-based
treatment. Education programmes delivered by the Walker Unit Learning
Centre provide essential components of rehabilitation and restoration of
developmental tasks.
The short to medium term goal of the Walker programme is a reduc-
tion or remission in the presenting symptoms. The longer term goal is to
achieve a level of independent functioning in the young person that is
consistent with their mental age. Coexisting physical conditions requiring
medical monitoring or support are managed through consultation with
the relevant subspecialty unit of the adjacent general hospital, or in some
instances with the nearest paediatric hospital. All young people are dis-
charged to stable accommodation, but in some cases not to the care of
their families. All young people have an established educational or voca-
tional pathway on discharge, although this may not be a return to the
previous school of enrolment. The experience of the unit has been that
young people who have a mental illness severe enough to require intensive
longer stay inpatient treatment typically need the support of a special
needs school or program.
The Walker Unit endeavours to tailor its programme to meet the par-
ticular needs of the young person. In the early phases of an admission,
most young people reside in the unit seven days a week. As the admission
progresses, patients are granted increasing amounts of leave off the ward
including overnight leave, used as part of re-integration to home and edu-
cation. Although length of stay varies, in the period 2015 to 2020, goals
were achieved within six months for 64% of patients. Admissions extended
beyond a year for 6% of patients owing to exceptional circumstances. Long
admissions were avoided where possible because of the risk of institution-
alization and disengagement with resources in the community.
In the chapters that follow, we will examine the physical environment
of the unit, and the adaptations that have been made to ensure its func-
tionality. We will consider the therapeutic milieu and the role played by
multidisciplinary team members individually and collectively in its mainte-
nance. We will describe clinical processes such as admission and discharge
6 P. HAZELL
planning, formulation and case review. We will consider the specific roles
of professionals including nurses, teachers, psychotherapists, psycholo-
gists, social workers, art therapists, music therapists, speech therapists,
occupational therapists, dieticians, pharmacists and medical staff. We will
describe the suite of therapies offered to patients. We will describe the
steps taken to maintain and enhance the physical wellbeing of patients,
including the optimization of pharmacotherapy. We will describe how the
unit operates within the framework of the Mental Health Act. We will
consider training and education. Finally, we will describe how the unit
responded to challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
References
Blanz, B., & Schmidt, M. H. (2000). Preconditions and outcome of inpatient
treatment in child and adolescent psychiatry. Journal of Child Psychology and
Psychiatry, 41(6), 703–712.
Hazell, P., Sprague, T., & Sharpe, J. (2016). Psychiatric hospital treatment of
children and adolescents in New South Wales, Australia: 12-year trends. BJPsych
Open, 2(1), 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjpo.bp.115.000794
Health Service Executive (Ireland). (2012). Fourth annual child and adolescent
mental health service report 2011–2012. http://www.hse.ie/eng/services/
Publications/services/Mentalhealth/camhs20112012annualreport.pdf.
House of Commons Health Committee. (2014). Children and adolescent's mental
health and CAMHS. Third report of session 2014–2015 (Vol. 2015). House
of Commons.
National Mental Health Development Unit. (2009). Working together to provide
age-appropriate environments and services for mental health patients aged under
18. A briefing for commissioners of adult mental health services and child and
adolescent mental health services. http://www.nmhdu.org.uk/silo/files/
publication-w orking-t ogether-t o-p rovide-a geappropriate-e nvironments-
and-sces-.pdf
NSW Health. (2011). Children and Adolescents with Mental Health Problems
Requiring Inpatient Care. PD2011_016. NSW Health.
Perkes, I. E., Birmaher, B., & Hazell, P. L. (2019). Indications for psychiatric
hospitalization of children and adolescents. The Australian and New Zealand
Journal of Psychiatry, 53(8), 729–731. https://doi.org/10.1177/000
4867419835930
1 INTRODUCTION 7
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons
Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/
by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction
in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original
author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence and
indicate if changes were made.
The images or other third party material in this chapter are included in the
chapter’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to
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and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the
permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copy-
right holder.
CHAPTER 2
Abstract Many readers will have worked in facilities that were once state-
of-the-art in design, but have become unfit for the purpose. Capacity to
modify the physical environment of a psychiatric unit in response to
changing clinical need or practice is essential. The Walker Unit differs
from adolescent units at other locations because of its larger internal foot-
print and greater secure outdoor space. Substantive modifications to the
Walker Unit over time have included requisitioning of space to create a
learning centre, modification of some bedrooms to create a parent retreat,
the establishment of a sensory room, and repurposing of the seclusion area
to become a de-escalation suite. The chapter will describe the physical
environment of the Walker Unit referenced to Australasian Health Facility
Guidelines, and current best practice.
S. Ho • S. Hoare (*)
Walker Unit, Concord Centre for Mental Health, Concord, NSW, Australia
e-mail: Stephen.Ho@health.nsw.gov.au; Steve.Hoare@health.nsw.gov.au
Introduction
The Australian Health Facility Guidelines stipulate that inpatient mental
health units for young people require “a conscious balancing of the
requirement to provide an effective therapeutic environment for acute
mentally ill young people with the need to provide them and their fami-
lies’ visitors and staff with a pleasant, spacious light filled, comfortable and
homely facility” (Australasian Health Infrastructure Alliance, 2016).
Domestic style furnishings and décor should be homely not custodial, and
in shared spaces should be movable to make adjustments for activities.
The environment should support the provision of safety and privacy of
young people, allow for spaces where individual therapy can be conducted
confidentially, group therapy and educational activities can be conducted
for larger groups and recreational activities can be planned and under-
taken. The environment should have capacity to offer smaller containing
zones that can be used to separate young people experiencing distress,
away from the wider patient group to prevent what Sergeant (2009)
describes as the “Domino effect” where distress spreads among young
people. These containing areas should enable distraction and sensory
modulation activities to take place and reduce the noise created during
distress from affecting the wider ward area. In situations where there is an
event of behavioural disturbance such as aggression, the ability to move
the wider group of patients to a different area where the programme can
continue, reduces the need for physical restraint.
History
The public announcement that an adolescent unit would be established on
the Concord Centre for Mental Health campus was made when the Centre
was partially built (see Fig. 2.1). The ward allocated for this purpose was
originally intended as an adult extended care unit. As such, considerable
modification to the design was required from the outset to accommodate
the needs of mentally unwell adolescents. Fortunately, some of these mod-
ifications were made while the original build was in progress. For example,
the areas labelled “Arts and Crafts” and “Group Room” in Fig. 2.2 were
redesigned to accommodate the Learning Centre, while the area labelled
“Activities” became the Art Therapy space. Subsequent modifications
have been made to respond to the need for structural improvement,
2 THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT 11
Fig. 2.1 Phase of build at the time the ward was repurposed from an adult
extended stay unit to an adolescent high severity longer-stay unit
Fig. 2.2 The Walker Unit floor plan at the time of commissioning
Modifications
Since the Walker Unit opened in 2009, there has been extensive modifica-
tion to address clinical risks and to ensure that the environment is both
therapeutic and safe. The original fit out of the building posed a number
of safety hazards. For example, fire extinguishers were placed in common
areas, where they could have been used by an assaultive patient as weap-
ons. Bedrooms contained items that could be misappropriated for self-
harm, such as exposed metal screws in the light fittings and metal strips
under the doors. Once identified these hazards were removed and replaced.
As the clinical programme evolved, use of the available space within the
unit changed. For example, the adoption of trauma informed care princi-
ples has altered greatly the way in which the seclusion area is used.
Originally used for time out, and sometimes the emergency administration
of medication, it now forms part of a suite of low stimulus options for
young people who are emotionally and behaviourally not regulated.
2 THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT 13
and 2.5). All windows have thickened secure glass, all doors accessing the
ward area have viewing windows to prevent young people absconding
when doors open. A duress alarm system works throughout the unit spaces.
Separating Spaces
The Walker Unit was designed so that it could function as two separate
zones. When a young person needed a more secure space to support their
safety and privacy away from other young people, it was common practice
to move either the young person or the wider group into the other zone.
However, when the second side was used to support an individual, access
to some facilities was compromised. In 2021, capital works were under-
taken to create a “High acuity POD”. This area can now be locked off
from the rest of the unit, provide a living and dining space, bedroom and
en-suite bathroom and securely contain a young person with lesser restric-
tions on space for the wider group. This POD space is located by the par-
ent retreat room and has secure access to a courtyard. This space provides
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are few indeed, who, hearing it on any authority but his, would not
feel disposed to reject it, at once, as a grievous heresy. Yet such
was, unquestionably, the spirit, the word, and the practice of Jesus. It
was enough for him to know that the weight of human woe, which
called him forth on his errand of mercy, was lightened; and that the
spirit before darkened and bound down by the powers of evil, was
now brought out into glorious light and freedom. Most earnestly did
he declare this solemn principle of catholic communion; and most
distinctly did he reiterate it in a varied form. The simplest act of
kindness done to the commissioned of Christ, would, of itself,
constitute a certain claim to his divine favor. But, on the other hand,
the least wilful injury of one sent forth from him, would at once insure
the ruin of the perpetrator.
So idolatrous was the reference with which many of the Fathers and ancient theologians
were accustomed to regard the apostles, that they would not allow that these chosen ones
of Christ ever committed any sin whatever; at least, none after their calling to be disciples.
Accordingly, the most ridiculous attempts have been made to justify or excuse the faults and
errors of those apostles, who are mentioned in the New Testament as having committed
any act contrary to the received standards of right. Among other circumstances, even
Peter’s perjured denial of his Lord, has found stubborn defenders and apologists; and
among the saintly commentators of both Papist and Protestant faiths, have been found
some to stand up for the immaculate soundness of James and John, in this act of wicked
and foolish zeal. Ambrose of Milan, in commenting on this passage, must needs maintain
that their ferocity was in accordance with approved instances of a similar character in the
Old Testament. “Nec discipuli peccant,” says he, “qui legem sequuntur;” and he then refers
to the instance of extemporaneous vindictive justice in Phineas, as well as to that of Elijah,
which was quoted by the sons of Zebedee themselves. He argues, that, since the apostles
were indued with the same high privileges as the prophets, they were in this instance
abundantly justified in appealing to such authority for similar acts of vengeance. He
observes, moreover, that this presumption was still farther justified in them, by the name
which they had received from Jesus; “being ‘sons of thunder,’ they might fairly suppose that
fire would come down from heaven at their word.” But Lampe very properly remarks, that
the prophets were clearly moved to these acts of wrathful justice, by the Holy Spirit, and
thereby also, were justified in a vindictiveness, which might otherwise be pronounced cruel
and bloody. The evidence of this spirit-guidance, those old prophets had, in the
instantaneous fiery answer from heaven, to their denunciatory prayer; but on the other
hand, in this case, the words of Jesus in reply to the Sons of Thunder, show that they were
not actuated by a holy spirit, nor by the Holy Spirit, for he says to them, “Ye know not what
manner of spirit ye are of,”――which certainly implies that they were altogether mistaken in
supposing that the spirit and power of Elijah rested on them, to authorize such wide-wasting
and indiscriminate ruin of innocent and guilty,――women and children, as well as men,
inhabiting the village; and he rebukes and condemns their conduct for the very reason that it
was the result of an unholy and sinful spirit.
Yet, not only the Romish Ambrose, but also the Protestant Calvin, has, in his idolatrous
reverence for the infallibility of the apostles, (an idolatry hardly less unchristian than the
saint-worship against which he strove,) thought it necessary to condemn and rebuke
Maldonado, as guilty of a detestable presumption, in declaring the sons of Zebedee to have
been lifted up with a foolish arrogance. On the arguments by which Calvin justifies James
and John, Lampe well remarks, that the great reformer uses a truly Jesuitical weapon,
(propria vineta caedit Loyolita,) when he says that “they desired vengeance not for
themselves, but for Christ; and were not led into error by any fault, but merely by ignorance
of the spirit of the gospel and of Christ.” But was not this ignorance itself a sin, showing
itself thus in the very face of all the oft-repeated admonitions of Jesus against this bloody
spirit, even in his or any cause? and of all his inculcations of a universal rule of forbearance
and forgiveness?
John is not mentioned again in the gospel history, until near the
close of the Savior’s labors, when he was about to prepare his
twelve chosen ones, for the great change which awaited their
condition, by long and earnest instruction, and by prayer. In making
the preliminary arrangements for this final meeting, John was sent
along with Peter, to see that a place was provided for the
entertainment. After this commission had been satisfactorily
executed, they joined with Jesus and the rest of the twelve disciples
in the Paschal feast, each taking a high place at the board, and John
in particular reclining next to Jesus. As a testimony of the intimate
affection between them, it is recorded by this apostle himself in his
gospel, that during the feast he lay on Jesus’s breast,――a position
which, though very awkward, and even impossible, in the modern
style of conducting feasts in the sitting posture, was yet rendered
both easy and natural, in the ancient mode, both Oriental and
Roman, of reclining on couches around the table. Under these
circumstances, those sharing the same part of the couch, whose
feelings of affection led them most readily together,――such a
position as that described by John, would occur very naturally and
gracefully. It here, in connection with John’s own artless, but
expressive sentence, mentioning himself as the disciple whom Jesus
loved, presents to the least imaginative mind, a most beautifully
striking picture of the state of feeling between the young disciple and
his Lord,――showing how closely their spirits were drawn together,
in an affection of the most sacred and interesting character, far
surpassing the paternal and filial relation in the high and pure nature
of the feeling, because wholly removed from the mere animalities
and instincts that form and modify so much of all natural love. The
regard between these two beings was by no means essentially
dependent on any striking similarity of mind or feeling. John had very
little of that mild and gentle temperament which so decidedly
characterized the Redeemer;――he had none of that spirit of
meekness and forgiveness which Jesus so often and earnestly
inculcated; but a fierce, fiery, thundering zeal, arising from a
temperament, ardent alike in anger and in love. Nor was such a
character at all discordant with the generality of those for whom
Jesus seemed to feel a decided preference. There is no one among
the apostolic band, whether Galilean or Hellenistic, of whose
characters any definite idea is given, that does not seem to be
marked most decidedly by the fiercer and harsher traits. Yet like
those of all children of nature, the same hearts seem to glow, upon
occasion, as readily with affectionate as with wrathful feeling, both, in
many instances, combining in their affection for Jesus. The whole
gospel record, as far as the twelve disciples are concerned, is a
most satisfactory comment on the characteristics ascribed by
Josephus to the whole Galilean race,――“ardent and fierce.” And
this was the very temperament which recommended them before all
men in the world, for the great work of laying the deep foundations of
the Christian faith, amid opposition, hatred, confusion, and blood.
And among these wild, but ardent dispositions, did even the mild
spirit of the Redeemer find much that was congenial to its frame, as
well as its purposes; for in them, his searching eye recognized
faculties which, turned from the base ends of worldly strife and low,
brawling contest, might be exalted, by a mere modification, and not
eradication, to the great works of divine benevolence. The same
temperament that once led the ardent Galileans into selfish quarrels,
under the regenerating influences of a holy spirit, might be trained to
a high devoted self-sacrifice for the good of others; and the valor
which once led them to disregard danger and death in spiteful
enmity, could, after an assimilation to the spirit of Jesus, be made
equally energetic in the dangerous labors of the cause of universal
love. Such is most clearly the spirit of the Galilean disciples, as far
as any character can be recognized in the brief, artless sketches,
incidentally given of them in the New Testament history. Nor is there
any good reason to mark John as an exception to these harsher
attributes. The idea, now so very common, of his softness and
amiability, seems to have grown almost entirely out of the
circumstance, that he was “the disciple whom Jesus loved;” as if the
high spirit of the Redeemer could feel no sympathy with such traits
as bravery, fierce energy, or even aspiring ambition. Tempted
originally by the great source of evil, yet without sin, he himself knew
by what spiritual revolutions the impulses which once led only to evil,
could be made the guides to truth and love, and could see, even in
the worst manifestations of that fiery ardor, the disguised germ of a
holy zeal, which, under his long, anxious, prayerful care and
cultivation, would become a tree of life, bringing forth fruits of good
for nations. Even in these low, depraved mortals, therefore, he could
find much to love,――nor is the circumstance of his affectionate
regard, in itself, any proof that John was deficient in the most striking
characteristics of his countrymen; and that he was not so, there is
proof positive and unquestionable in those details of his own and his
brother’s conduct, already given.
Lampe quotes on this point Vitringa, (Sacred Observations, I. iii. 7,) Suicer, (Church
Thesaurus voc. στυλος,) and Gataker, (Cinnus, ii. 20.) He refers also to Jerome,
commenting on Galatians ii. 9; who there alludes to the fact that John, one of the “pillars,” in
his Revelation, introduces the Savior speaking as above quoted. (Revelation iii. 12.)
With Peter and James.――The authority for this is Irenaeus, (A. D. 150‒170,) who says,
“Those apostles who were with James, permitted the Gentiles indeed to act freely, leaving
us to the spirit of God. They themselves, too, knowing the same God, persevered in their
ancient observances. * * * Thus the apostles whom the Lord made witnesses of his whole
conduct and his whole teaching, (for every where are found standing together with him,
Peter, James and John,) religiously devoted themselves to the observance of the law,
which is by Moses, thus acknowledging both [the law and the spirit] to be from one and the
same God.” (Irenaeus, Against Heresies.)
Fourteenth day of March.――This refers to the practice of observing the feast of the
resurrection of Christ, on the fourteenth day of March, corresponding with the passover of
the Jews,――a custom long kept up in the eastern churches, instead of always keeping it
on Sunday. The authority for the statement is found in two ancient writers; both of whom are
quoted by Eusebius. (Church History, V. 24.) He first quotes Polycrates, (towards the end of
the second century,) as writing to Victor, bishop of Rome, in defense of the adherence of the
eastern churches to the practice of their fathers, in keeping the passover, or Easter, on the
fourteenth day of the month, without regard to the day of the week on which it occurred,
though the great majority of the Christian churches throughout the world, by common
consent, always celebrated this resurrection feast on the Lord’s day, or Sunday. Polycrates,
in defense of the oriental practice of his flock and friends, so accordant with early Jewish
prejudices, quotes the example of the Apostle John, who, he says, died at Ephesus, where
he (Polycrates) was bishop. He says, that John, as well as his brother-apostle, Philip, and
Polycarp his disciple, “all observed Easter on the fourteenth day of the month, never varying
from that day, at all.” Eusebius (ibid.) quotes also Irenaeus, writing to the same bishop
Victor, against his attempt to force the eastern churches into the adoption of the practice of
the Roman church, in celebrating Easter always on a Sunday, instead of uniformly on the
fourteenth day of the month, so as to correspond with the Jewish passover. Irenaeus, in
defense of the old eastern custom, tells of the practice of Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, a
disciple of John. Polycarp, coming to Rome in the days of bishop Anicetus, (A. D. 151‒160,)
though earnestly exhorted by that bishop to renounce the eastern mode of celebrating
Easter always on the fourteenth, like the Jewish passover, steadily refused to change;
giving as a reason, the fact that John, the disciple of Jesus, and others of the apostles,
whom he had intimately known, had always followed the eastern mode.
This latter authority, fairly derived from a person who had been the intimate friend of
John himself, may be pronounced entitled to the highest respect, and quite clearly
establishes this little circumstance, which is valuable only as showing John’s pertinacious
adherence to Jewish forms, to the end of his life.
Socrates, an ecclesiastical historian, (A. D. 439,) alludes to the circumstance, that those
who observed Easter on the fourteenth, referred to the authority of the Apostle John, as
received by tradition.
Nor were they alone; for as the Jewish historian, who was an eye-
witness of the sad events of those times, records, “many of the
respectable persons among the Jews, after the alarming attack of
Cestius, left the city, like passengers from a sinking ship.” And this
fruitless attack of the Romans, he considers to have been so
arranged by a divine decree, to make the final ruin fall with the more
certainty on the truly guilty.
Parthia.――The earliest trace of this story is in the writings of Augustin, (A. D. 398,) who
quotes the first epistle of John as “the epistle to the Parthians,” from which it appears that
this was a common name for that epistle, in the times of Augustin. Athanasius is also
quoted by Bede, as calling it by the same name. If he wrote to the Parthians in that familiar
way, it would seem probable that he had been among them, and many writers have
therefore adopted this view. Among these, the learned Mill (Prolegomena in New Testament
§ 150) expresses his opinion very fully, that John passed the greater part of his life among
the Parthians, and the believers near them. Lampe (Prolegomena to a Johannine Theology,
Lib. I. cap. iii. § 12, note) allows the probability of such a visit, but strives to fix its date long
before the destruction of Jerusalem; yet offers no good reason for such a notion.
India.――The story of the Jesuit missionaries is given by Baronius, (Annals 44. § 30.)
The story is, that letters from some of these missionaries, in 1555, give an account of their
finding such a tradition, among an East Indian nation, called the Bassoras, who told them
that the apostle John once preached the gospel in that region. No further particulars are
given; but this is enough to enable us to judge of the value of a story, dating fifteen
centuries from the event which it commemorates.