Speech therapy care in homes for the elderly from the perspective of employees of these facilities

This bachellor thesis is focused on logopaedic intervention and its benefits in retirement homes. It is subdivided into a theoretical and an empiric part. The theoretical part is mainly dedicated to defining the terms of ' age' and 'ageing', characterisation of the most common communication disorders among elderly people and their diagnostics, etiology, therapy and symptoms. The system of care of elderly people in the Czech Republic is also depicted in the theoretical part, introducing all kinds of services provided to seniors, mainly in retirement homes. Further, logopaedic intervention and its possible application is described. The following empiric part of the thesis inspected logopedic intervention in a particular retirement home including the assessment of logopedic care contribution by the retirement home's employees. Employees were specifically chosen to assess their clients' progress as they are in a day-to-day contact with them and can therefore observe any improvements brought on by this kind of care. At the same time, they shall be more unbiased as opposed to the logopedician providing the logopedic care or the elderly people themselves. The research has proven that the employees have no deep knowledge in terms of specific methods used in the intervention, they rather have a vague grasp..