Demographic change and the increase in the number of elderly people brings with them many changes, including the increased need for care for the elderly, whether in the community or in an institution. Due to the overcrowding of institutions and the fast pace of life, relatives are often unable to take care of their elderly family members, so they use home help services. It is a service that allows the elderly to stay in their home, familiar environment, while relieving relatives. Care is individually tailored to the elderly person and their needs, and is provided by qualified caregivers.
Home help service is the central topic of my master's thesis. I focused on comparing home help services between Slovenia and England. In the theoretical part, I presented the characteristics of the service of both countries and trends over the past few years, and in the research I focused on direct service providers, i.e. suppliers.
I was interested in whether people receive training before starting work and being introduced to work, how their cooperation with users and superiors works, and how the work took place during the epidemic. In addition, I also researched the presence of overload in the work process and the pros and cons of working through the eyes of caregivers.
The results showed that people in England receive education, which cannot be said for caregivers in Slovenia. In addition, employees in both countries want more opportunities to upskill in the workplace and higher salaries, and they also pointed out poor cooperation with superiors. Employees want more cooperation and support from superiors, while most describe cooperation with users as positive. Possible improvements also include involvement in the process from the very beginning and increasing the number of employees.
During the time of the epidemic, they say that the work went smoothly most of the time, and the use of protective equipment was mandatory. However, they mention more tension and nervousness, which was noticeable both among the employees as well as with users.
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