| Abstract [eng] |
Topic title. Burnout in speech therapists: associations between age, experience and profesional training. Topic relevance. Speech therapists work with a large numer of students and are required to actively cooperate with teachers, paretns, and other educational support specialists. This type of activity requires constant engagement, a high level of responsibility for studenst progress, and the ability to adapt to changing educational conditions. Intensive emotional labour, increasing workload, and limited resources can eventually increase the risk of burnout. Research problem. What are the associations between speech therapists age, work experience, and professional preparation and their burnout? What factors, according to speech therapists, contribute to their experience of burnout? Research object – bournout of speech therapists. Research aim – to determinate the associations between speech therapists bournout and their age, work experience, and professional preparation. Research objectives: 1. To summarise the concept of burnout, its models, and risk factors in the profession of educational support specialists based on a review of scientific literature. 2. To assess the manifestation of burnout among speech therapists across specific burnout dimensions using quantitative research data. 3. To determine the associations between speech therapists age, work experience, professional training, and burnout. 4. To identify factors contributing to speech therapists burnout based on qualitative content analysis results. 5. To compare the study findings with previous empirical studies conducted in other countries and to provide recommendations for burnout prevention. Research methodology. The empirical study was based on both qualitative and quantitative methodological approaches. A questionnaire survey was conducted. Research methods. Data collection methods (anonymous questionnaire survey) and data analysis methods (scientific literature analysis, statistical data analysis, content analysis of open-ended questions). Research respondents. The study involved 319 speech therapists from Lithuania. Research results. Speech therapists burnout is associated with age and work experience, professional qualification is related only to the personal burnout at work dimension. According to the speech therapists, burnout is most strongly increased by intensive emotional labour, high workload, limited professional autonomy, and insufficient organisational support. Key words: burnout, speech therapists, educational support specialists, work experience, emotional labour. |
