The mission and purpose of retirement homes is fundamentally the performance of services of institutional care, with which the functions of home and family are replaced or supplemented for the elderly. In practice, residents, who are younger than 65 and who, according to the basic mission of retirement homes, do not belong there are placed in retirement homes for various reasons. In 2018, eleven per cent of residents of retirement homes in Slovenia were aged under 65. This master thesis researches their life in Gornja Radgona Retirement Home. It researches the reasons for moving into the retirement home, social contacts, activities, inclusion in life in the retirement home and intergenerational relations. In the first part of the thesis, the Goffman concept of total institution is presented and used as a way of understanding the functioning of retirement homes. Furthermore, the role of the social worker in retirement homes and his/her tasks are presented. Then, an overview of the legal basis and the statistical presentation of the current situation in retirement homes in Slovenia is given. The final part of the thesis presents the findings which were established by interviewing the residents aged under 65 and the social worker. The findings suggest the reasons for moving into a retirement home, contacts and ways of socialisation with friends and family members, effectiveness of inclusion and problems when adapting to a new environment. When moving into a retirement home, the residents are exposed to significant changes which are later reflected in different areas of their life and living in an institution. The main problematic proved to be the lack of social interaction with their peers, suitable activity within the retirement home and problems which occur when moving into a retirement home. On the basis of these findings, the author proposes guidelines which can help practitioners in their work with the group of residents aged under 65.
|
