The theoretical part of my master's thesis is created as a basis for understanding the position of the elderly in today's society. The topic I highlighted first is autonomy, which plays an important role in maintaining the dignity of every individual. As part of the topic, I looked at possible innovative forms of support to ensure active participation in life decisions at old age. In what follows, I have focused on issues of power that contribute to the creation of inequality and disadvantage of the elderly in society. I continue with the chapters on discrimination, violence and abuse, which occur due to the loss of contractual power of the elderly as a vulnerable group. I reviewed the phenomenon of ageism, the forms, and the prevalence of violence. I particularly focused on the abuse of people with dementia. In response to the helplessness of the elderly, I presented the central theme of the master’s thesis, which is advocacy. I focused on the development, forms and principles, as well as, looked at the current legislation in Slovenia regarding advocacy in mental health. In the practical part, I made a qualitative research on the importance of advocacy for elderly who live in a home environment. In addition to that, I focused on identifying the need to introduce the profile of an independent professional advocate. My research is based on the viewpoint of the negative attitude towards the elderly and their needs for formal care in the community. The basic finding of the research is that the need to introduce an independent professional advocate arises especially for individuals who have reduced social networks. The situation of the elderly in Slovenia is poor, as the social protection system does not provide sufficient formal support for the protection and enforcement of individual rights in old age. I recognized the helplessness of the elderly and people with dementia on both a social and legal level. I confirmed the positive aspects of advocacy and proved that the need to create an independent professional advocate for the elderly undoubtedly exists.
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