Western society is achieving longer and longer life expectancy, the world’s population is ageing. Older people face physical and cognitive changes. One of the most common cognitive diseases is dementia. It affects the life of the person with dementia and his close relatives, changing their view of the world and affecting their relationships with others. Dementia is not only a medical phenomenon, but also a social problem. Social work can play an important role in this. With the right help and support for the person with dementia and his key carers, a person with dementia can live a quality and decent life. In my master thesis I explored the everyday life of relatives of people with dementia, what their needs are, the organised and informal forms of support they use. I was particularly interested in what needs remain unaddressed and what else they might need. I focused on how professional workers understand, identify and address their needs. I was interested in what else could be done. The results of the interviews conducted with relatives of people with dementia, professional workers from the Centre for Social Work and professional workers from the local home for the elderly were analysed using a qualitative method. I found that there are systemic deficiencies in the existing forms of support, which the Long-Term Care Act should be addressing. This is supposed to put a working approach into practice that includes various support elements for the person with dementia and his relatives, as well as for other beneficiaries of long-term care. In Zasavje, relatives in the community miss self-help programmes and better information about the possibilities offered. I see an important role for non-governmental organisations networking with other institutions. I found that social services should be networking with each other and identifying the needs of people in the community. At the same time, new programmes and services should be created. These should be based on identifying needs through research in the field, involving people with experience. There is a need to provide information in a more accessible way.
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