[Shelter in Konczyce Male as an example of a rehabilitation centre]. / Metody pracy osrodków pomocy spolecznej jako instytucji rehabilitacyjnych na przykladzie Domu Pomocy Spolecznej w Konczycach Malych.

Polish society towards the end of the 20th century has passed the point of demographic senility. 16% of the population is older than 60 and 14% are registered disabled. A good proportion of the above groups is unable to function normally in their everyday lives and to some extent have to rely on shelters. Based on the existing demographic data a prediction can be made of continuous growth of the population of the disabled and elderly which necessitates further development of social care and rehabilitation institutions. In the paper shelters for mentally retarded are discussed. There are two objectives: to demonstrate the methods of work of such shelter, to find out if these methods contribute to the better functioning of the resident women. The basic technique for gathering data employed was the analysis of shelter residents' documents while additional technique was observation of the residents. Based on collected data we concluded that the residents participating in occupational therapy appeared to have better developed social skills, manual dexterity and physical fitness and are therefore more independent.