Sekundarni povzetek: |
Demographic changes in our society and the increase of the elderly population have contributed to the continuous growth of possibilities for institutionalization, help and home care. Several studies in Europe as well as in Slovenia have shown that about ¼ of people aged 65 and over need assistance with daily care. 15 % of these people need relatively little help, while other 10 % are highly dependent on others.
The present master's thesis focuses on two social security services – institutional care in elderly homes and home care – from the users' perspective.
The theoretical part presents the aspects, describing age-related changes and different perceptions of old age. Demographic changes and ageing were considered through the prism of psychology, social networks and satisfaction of needs. A short presentation of the legislation, providing the explanation of the difference between the two social security services for senior citizens mentioned above, is accompanied by various results of foreign practices.
In the empirical part of the thesis, we used a qualitative method to find out, which factors were necessary for a happy and balanced ageing process of the people, who need assistance with activities of daily living. The participants in our research were asked to explain the reasons for their decision to use a certain type of a care service. We analyzed the users' satisfaction with the service and determined to what degree their needs were met, according to the six dimensional human image. This model comprises the following levels: biophysical or physical, psychological or mental, spiritual, human and social, historical and cultural, evolutionary and existential dimension. The model empasizes the need for a basic and interpersonal relationship, the need for sharing life experiences and knowledge with young generations and the existential need for a humanbeing to experience his old age with the same perception as the other life stages.
The same questions were given to the experts, providing both social security services. Analysis of the answers has shown two views on the services of institutional care and home care. The data were collected with the partly structurated interviews. The results of the qualitative research provide guidelines for the improvement of both services and programs of the community care and different forms of home care.
According to the information gathered and analyzed, I note that the main differences between the two analyzed services are the level of intimacy and social relations. Home care service users are not deprived of intimacy of their home environment. On the other hand, their social interactions are less intensive. Senior citizens in elderly homes make new friendships, acquaintances, they get visits from their families, friends, neighbours. They also have a wide range of activities to enage in. By changing a place of residence, however, they lose things they had at home. I note that the users of both services are satisfied with the implementation of these services and the personnel providing care. Home care service is more individually tailored if we compare it with the service in elderly homes, where a relatively small number of employees take care of the majority of residents.
According to the model, developed by Dr. Jože Ramovš, describing a six dimensional perspective of a humanbeing, the levels of elderly people's needs were satisfied differently. Material needs were met in the majority of cases, while social needs of elderly people remained poorly satisfied. |