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6/2020 – Evaluation in Social Work 1/2021 – ERIS Journal - Winter 2021 - Forced Migration and Minority Groups 2/2021 – 3/2021 – 4/2021 – ERIS Journal - Summer 2021 - Histories of social work

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Issues » 2013/5 - Special English Issue 2013 »

The Issue of Senior Self-sufficiency after Hospitalization – a Field for Geriatrics or Social Work

Zuzana Vontorova

Abstract:
Demographic aging of population brings a range of threats, which can acquire the character of a life crisis primarily in the elderly. These threats include limitation or loss of self-sufficiency. Illness and limitations of self-sufficiency often requires hospitalization of a senior, to provide him/her with geriatric care. But this is also a social event requiring the presence of a social worker. Complex care of elderly is impeded in the Czech Republic by the division of activity between the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Social Affairs. Seniors suffering from a lack of self-sufficiency appear to be the most vulnerable to the effects of departmentalism because strict separation affects both the termination of the hospitalization of the elderly as well as the aftercare. Sustainability of the quality and appropriateness of health and social services delivered requires a dedicated long-term care, such as the implementation of empirical research. The present article describes the current state of system of the care of seniors with loss of self-sufficiency and dependent seniors in the Czech Republic. The text includes theoretical background of selected terms and focuses on the key issues within the state, which led to the formulation of the research objectives of the dissertation thesis by the author of the text.

Keywords:
elderly, crises, illness, hospitalization, loss of self-sufficiency, coping strategies, adaptation, social work in health care, geriatrics, departmentalism, long-term care, empirical research

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