The main topic of the thesis are the experiences of professionals in the care of people with dementia. I decided to make a qualitative survey because I wanted to gain verbal descriptions and thus more in-depth answers. In the theoretical part I first presented dementia in theory, listed the types and symptoms of dementia. This was followed by a chapter on methods and ways of working with people with dementia. I also presented the specifics of communication with people with dementia and indicated guidelines for communication in different stages of the disease. In the following, I presented the institutional and community care of people with dementia in Slovenia. I have defined what supervision is and what it means for professionals. I completed the theoretical part with the presentation of The Strategy of Dementia Management in Slovenia until the year 2020.
In the empirical part I presented the results of the research, which involved professionals employed in homes for the older people and social services centers in Zasavje. In an non-probability and convenient sample, I took twelve persons. In the interviews I asked them about the following themes: knowledge and understanding of dementia, direct work with people with dementia, difficulties and obstacles of professionals, and development in the field of working with people with dementia. The results of the research have shown that experts have a lot of knowledge about dementia, types of dementia and its symptoms. They assess their knowledge as basic or good enough, but most of them feel the need to upgrade their knowledge. They use different methods and ways of working, and they know many techniques of communicating with people with dementia. When working with people with dementia, they face difficulties and obstacles, while in solving them, they are assisted by other professionals and employees, and they use a variety of relieving techniques. They are aware that people with dementia are an important part of our society, they emphasize that changes are needed in the field of legislation and express the need for more staff and additional education.
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