Dementia is a degenerative disease that occurs most often over the age of 65 and affects a person's ability to communicate, remember, think and learn. The social worker in a home for older people takes on different roles, applying social work concepts. In the theoretical part, I have presented topics such as the definition and types of dementia, models of understanding dementia, long-term care, models of care in homes for the older people, the role of the social worker, the concepts she uses in her work, and the impact of the pandemic Covid-19 on the functioning of homes for older people. Through qualitative research I wanted to explore what models of care exist in homes for older people in Koroška, what the specific tasks of a social worker are, what concepts do social workers use when working with people with dementia, and what the impact of the pandemic on the work of a social worker, the residents and their relatives is. I conducted 10 interviews with social workers and head departments for residents with dementia, who have different types of education and have had their job for more than three years. The results showed that an integrated model of care is used in Koroška homes, where people with dementia coexist with other residents. The social worker's tasks include welcoming new residents, working with relatives and drawing up an individual plan. The social worker in the home for older people acts as an advocate for the resident's rights, identifies and reinforces the strengths of people with dementia, carries out risk assessments where necessary and organises and leads team meetings. During the pandemic of Covid-19, the social worker was confronted with changes in the organisation of work, with the difficulties of relatives and residents, where her task was to establish contact between residents and relatives. In order to ensure the smooth running of the work in the homes for older people I suggest that regular team meetings be set up and that social workers attend training programmes on understanding the concepts of social work with people with dementia.
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