[The necessity of community rehabilitation for outpatients with a communication disorder]

In order to explore the necessity of community rehabilitation, we conducted a questionnaire survey of patients with a communication disorder who had finished speech therapy at our hospital during the period of April 1998 to November 2001. A total of fifty-four subjects answered the questionnaire. The following observations were made based on the results. 1. Fifty-nine percent of the respondents was experiencing some degree of difficulties in their daily life, and facing some sorts of psychological and social problems. 2. Fifty nine percent considered community rehabilitation was necessary, while only one respondent was actually receiving it. 3. The majority of respondents wished there were speech therapists in their area to provide a variety of services such as recreation and rehabilitation. These results suggest the importance of speech therapy through local welfare and social care facilities.