In this Master’s thesis I am writing about the satisfaction of visitors in the daily centre Dom ob Savinji Celje. Daily centres in Slovenia represent one of the solutions for daily care of the elderly, however it is of very important value that the centres are being improved all the time and are following the constantly increasing complex needs and wishes of the elderly.
The thesis is made out of two sections, where the first section is theoretical and the second one empirical. In the theoretical section, I first described age, the process of aging and the field of aging in Slovenia. In the following, I described the basic needs of the elderly and their self-image, as well as their spending of free time. A very important part of the thesis was dedicated to the presentation of social security services of the elderly and the description of their daily care at large as well as here in Slovenia. I have also presented the daily care centre Dom ob Savinji Celje and in the following defined the field of social work with the elderly and within this definition described the basic skills and arts of social work with them. Finally, I have given some attention to the significance of intergenerational coexistence and solidarity on the field of elderly-care.
The second part of the thesis is based on a quantitative research where, with the help of a survey, I tried to find out the satisfaction with the services and activities of the daily care centre and what they lack. I wanted to find out whether there is a wish for the presence of a social worker in the daily centre between the visitors and if the visiting of the daily centre is giving them a chance to stay in their home environment longer. With the help of the analysis and the processing of the given data I checked my four hypotheses where I have proven one and refuted three.
On hand of the results I have found out that the most common reason for visiting the daily centre was the pressure from relatives and the loneliness of the elderly. The information about the possibility of visiting the daily centre is usually given by the relatives. The users of the daily centre are the most satisfied with the work-therapy and physio-therapy and the least with the book club and the musical hour. They have expressed a wish for more activities especially more recreational (walks or dances) and new sorts of activities (sewing, drawing). Besides that, there are no statistical differences between the genders in the wishes for more activities. I have found out that the majority of users had a wish for the presence of a social worker in the daily centre, however this is not connected to how often they have issues with their relatives. The elderly who live alone are more satisfied with the activities in the daily centre. They say that the fear of visiting the daily centre is not necessary and that the visiting enables them a longer stay in their home-environment.
By giving advice at the end of the thesis, my main focus was on how the daily centre could adapt to the specific needs and wishes of all users in fuller extent, where additional personnel could bring these advantages and how important the work about informing the public about the existence and the benefits for the elderly and their relatives presides.
 
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