In my master's thesis, I studied the experience of change and the lives of residents at the Fužine Retirement Home during the COVID-19 epidemic. People experience different changes throughout their lives but the elderly are the ones who are most sensitive to them, so it is important to determine how change affects their well-being. Since the elderly deserve to lead a decent life in their third age, I believe it makes sense to explore how changes linked to the virus affect the residents at the retirement home and their well-being. Therefore, I set out to explore how the new rules that have been put in place in retirement homes since the appearance of COVID-19 shape the lives of the users living there, how users experience them, or how these changes are reflected in their daily lives. In this emergency situation, social work is being faced with new challenges, so I was also interested in how social workers enforce their role and which work strategies they have developed to improve the residents' quality of life during the epidemic. To this end, I collected verbal descriptions by means of qualitative research. The sample included nine people, six of which were residents of the retirement home, two were social care takers, and one was a social worker. The measuring instrument used to collect the data was a questionnaire that constituted a partially structured interview. I analyzed the collected data with a qualitative research method, namely coding.
Research shows that life in the retirement home has changed greatly during the epidemic. As the whole situation and the measures necessary to protect people from the virus are constantly changing, residents are experiencing negative feelings. They accept and follow the measures because they are afraid of infecting themselves and others, but this all affects their well-being. The most difficult part was coping with social isolation and the banning of visitors. As a result of these limitations, relationships between the residents have changed and they are keeping more to themselves. Employees do their best to maintain a lively and pleasant atmosphere in the home. In order to improve the quality of life for the residents during this time, new work strategies have been developed.
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