In my master's thesis, I researched the challenges of a social worker in dealing with the effects of the COVID-19 epidemic on the lives and experiences of the residents of the Šmarje pri Jelšah Home for the Older people. I was interested in how the COVID-19 epidemic affected the daily lives of residents in the home for the older people, how residents experienced measures to contain the epidemic, what obstacles old people faced during the epidemic and in what ways they coped with them, who provided support to the older people in the home for the older people during the epidemic, how social work functioned in the home for the older people during the epidemic, what was the role of social workers in the home for the older people in resolving the distress of the older people due to the epidemic and its measures, what obstacles were encountered by social workers in their work because of the epidemic, and in what way they coped with them. I decided on qualitative research through which, instead of numerical data, I gained comprehensive, more subjective, and hospitable answers. In the first part of the master's thesis, I presented theoretical concepts about the older people in the institutional environment. I described the needs of the older people and also presented social work with the older people, social work in homes for the older people, and the characteristics of social work with the older people during the COVID-19 epidemic. In the empirical part, the results of a survey are presented. In the survey, a social worker from a home for the older people participated. She also worked there during the critical circumstances. Six residents of a home for the older people who lived in the home during the epidemic also participated in the survey. I found that measures to contain the COVID-19 epidemic affected residents differently. While some experienced severe distress, others adapted very quickly and accepted the situation. Most residents experienced changes in their daily lives and home routines as a result of measures to contain the epidemic. Residents experienced the greatest distress because of being moved to another room which they often disagreed with. The only contact with the residents was with employees who were not recognized due to protective clothing. Residents coped with the consequences of the measures of the COVID-19 epidemic in various ways (crocheting, reading books, etc.). They kept in touch with relatives and friends with the help of information and communication technology. During the epidemic, the residents were supported by all employees, each in their own way. During the epidemic, the social worker felt changes in her work because the volume of individual work with residents and interpersonal contact decreased. Therefore, the work of the social worker was more difficult and she had to adapt to the situation and circumstances. Her tasks were quite different from those in the time before the epidemic. The social worker provided adequate emotional support to the residents during the COVID-19 epidemic. During the critical circumstances, she noticed obstacles in the field of inconsistencies and ambiguity of instructions from the competent institutions while working. She also felt distressed in communicating information to residents about the death of their roommates or the necessary relocations. She solved the perceived obstacles with the help of many years of experience and with the trust she gained from residents and other employees. Based on the obtained results, in the final part of the thesis, I wrote down proposals that should be considered as guidelines for planning the work of social services in the direction of successfully dealing with the consequences that plague residents even after the COVID-19 epidemic.
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