Abstract
Opened in Setagaya Ward, Tokyo in September of 1998, the Sakurashinmachi Rehabilitation Clinic has no beds for in-patients but has the standard facilities required for second-level physical and occupational therapy. There are morning hours for outpatients and an afternoon program of home-visit therapy for patients throughout Setagaya Ward. The significance of the home-visit speech and language therapy program is illustrated through a discussion of four cases: 1) an 86-year-old female with severe aphasia, 2) a 72-year-old male with severe aphasia, 3) a 36-year-old female with higher brain dysfunction, and 4) a 60-year-old male with severe dysarthria. All of the patients had been recently discharged form the hospital. Both the communication problems the patients face at home and the necessity of home-visit therapy are discussed. By way of conclusion, it is strongly suggested that a system of home-visit therapy by speech and language therapists needs to be put into practice as soon as possible.
