With the new social conditions, the significance of social work is focused on working with the elderly population. At the same time the area of expertise, is that it strives towards social employes, therefore it is universal to both male and female employes regardles of their professionalism. Because we all age, we are all potencial benefactors of the service that the employes have to offer (Mali, 2013). Before my enrollment into college i was interested in working with the younger generation, but throughout my final year of undergraduate studies, i came to realise that working with the elderly is quite interesting and it simultaneously enables social workers to have a view into their lives and to study numerous challenges they have to face in their third life period. Through working with them i came to many realisations, one standing out from others, is that how their social network decreases after retirement. What fascinated me the most was how the elderly are willing to talk about their lives without hasitation. Therefor living in an environment where i can communicate with the elderly population, for my master's degree i decided to closely research what they face in their lives. The cause for this subject was the realisation that we don't focus enough on how they live, thinking that they are well taken care off.
The quick aging of the population and simultaneously decreasing the percentage of younger generation in the modern world is causing numerous changes in fairly stable institutions. With the prolongevity, advancement in medicine, the reduction of active populas and the growth of assistance needed people, we are witnesing changes in family relationships and intergenerational connections. When we publicly talk about age, we frequently mention demografic changes (Mali, 2013). Questioning the quality of living in the elderly years is more and more relevant, because of the ever longer life span. Qualitiy aging and qualitiy age are important on many platforms: for an aging person or elder person, for his or hers closest relatives (partner, children, grandchildren), for the wider circle (friends and neighbours), for the local community and society as a whole. We can notice in the past years the increasing interest of researchers for the aging populas and the changes they bring into slovenian society (Hlebec, Kavčič, Filipovič, Hrast, Vezovnik and Trbanc, 2010 pga. 10). To accept the fact that the populas is aging, which the more developed countries did decades ago, it forces us to look for new ways or to come up with a new filozofy of life, for all generations especialy for those who are in their mid-life. To preserve, nurture and fortify self image in this socialy harsh conditions is a challenge for everyone. From the knowledge, recognition and accepting actual changes that time brings, willingness to combat myths, taboos, stereotypes, it all depends on how the elderly will meet their living needs and how will they literaly enjoy in them in their said golden years of their lives (Kristančič, 2005, pga. 5).
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