This thesis deals with the issue of assessing seniors' needs in relation to the urgency of their admission into a residential care facility. Act No. 108/2006 on social services has significantly changed the way people can obtain necessary assistance. Now it is possible to purchase social services thanks to a social welfare benefit in form of an attendance allowance. There was an assumption that if there is a development in field social work, seniors will remain in their natural environment and therefore the interest in residential care facilities for older people will lower. However, this assumption was not met. The number of senior citizens interested in retirement homes greatly exceeds the capacity of individual facilities. When we assess the needs of seniors related to admission to a residential facility, such need is perceived as an insufficiency. If we get rid of this need or provide support to satisfy it, we achieve safety and security. The extent of such support can vary. The level of help people need determines the amount they receive as an attendance allowance, but it is not the only criterion for preferential admission into a retirement home. Seniors' difficult life situation does not have to be directly related to the level of help they need. If seniors get a lot of points during assessment of their degree of autonomy, self-sufficiency and objective conditions, it does not necessarily imply that they need to be urgently admitted into a residential care facility. This assessment is carried out according to methodological documents devised by the retirement home. The thesis uses a qualitative research strategy; that is, content analysis, case study and qualitative evaluation. Residential care facilities came up with requirements for objective assessment and selection of seniors to be admitted in order to reduce the number of applicants - from several hundred to a group that needs to be admitted urgently. These requirements led to a preparation of methodological materials that describe the whole standard procedure of interaction with people interested in the residential social service. Next, a method of point score system to select the candidates was also established. One of the aims of this thesis was to carry out a qualitative evaluation of methodological documents of a specific residential care facility for older people. Next goal was to assess the seniors' needs before they are admitted to residential care. A content analysis of social investigation records was also conducted. The results showed that the most important needs of seniors are safety and security. Older people submit applications for retirement homes, although they actually do not want to use this service. It is a manifestation of their fear of the future and it has a significant impact on the number of registered applications. On one hand, it is important to regard people as fully-fledged, independent, free and responsible beings at any age. But on the other hand, it is also vital to be aware of various limits and restrictions arising from natural ageing. We usually encounter two extreme opposites when we communicate with older people. Seniors usually overestimate or significantly underestimate themselves in the area of autonomy and self-sufficiency. If these areas were only self-evaluated and objective reality (or senior's surroundings) was not taken into account, the assessment result would be significantly distorted. Quality of needs' assessment and level of social investigation directly depend on the knowledge, skills and abilities of social workers; one of their most important skills is the ability to reflect.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:nusl.cz/oai:invenio.nusl.cz:254079 |
| Date | January 2014 |
| Creators | VÍTOVÁ, Jaroslava |
| Source Sets | Czech ETDs |
| Language | Czech |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | info:eu-repo/semantics/doctoralThesis |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess |
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