This paper is based on the findings of a survey that was conducted in 2018 among the elderly (65+) in Slovenia. The research was premised on Saunders’s (1990) thesis which describes housing as a physical and social space that individuals control, in which they express they personal identity, privacy and safety. In addition, we were also guided by Sommerville’s (1997) qualification of housing as a centre of family life, freedom, independence, individuality, self-expression and social status, and a support for work and leisure activities. Simultaneously, it is crucial also to recognize that the relationship of individuals to their housing or home changes during their lives. Given the ever-growing proportion of the elderly population in Slovenia, it is the imperative that all the major actors (especially policymakers and research community) engage in timely actions aimed at addressing and searching for appropriate solutions to the complex issues concerning the housing and living conditions of the elderly. The key objective must be to facilitate a suitable living environment adapted to the needs, wishes and habits of the elderly so as to ensure a decent quality of life in old age. As such, the main purpose of the research was to investigate the possibility and measures required to guarantee optimal conditions for quality ageing in place and the support services required for the elderly to remain full members of society for as long as possible and thus actively involved in social life.
B.03 Paper at an international scientific conference
COBISS.SI-ID: 2924995Western society is characterized by increasing aging. Slovenia is no exception in this trend. Demographic changes and new financial circumstances have an increasingly strong effect on public finance sustainability and, consequently, on housing provision for the elderly. In the European Union there is thus an increasing awareness that this problem cannot be solved with housing models and other forms of eldercare that have been used to date; instead, it will be necessary to develop new solutions and to introduce new forms of services that will be more effective and financially less burdensome. Active aging, a society for all ages, and services enabling the elderly to live independently are therefore concepts that have been the main topics of research programs in the European Union in recent years. Their goal is to lower the rising costs of housing provision for the elderly and providing services, thus reducing pressure on national funds, and at the same time to make it possible for the elderly to remain active members of society for as long as possible. One of the ways in which society has responded to such issues is the idea that the elderly should be able to remain in their home environment as long as possible, where they would be capable of leading their lives as independently as possible with the best possible quality of life. The concept is called “aging at home” or “aging in place”. This idea is widely supported in society because it is in line with the wishes and needs of the elderly. Most of them would like to remain at home, in the same familiar living and social environment, and they would also like to retain their independence and self-reliance as long as possible. This form of living in Slovenia is interesting because the country has so far primarily developed the institutional form of housing provision for the elderly, which is the most expensive among all forms of housing provision. On the other hand, Slovenia is characterized by a high rate of owner-occupied housing and low population mobility. But it could be assumed that high-quality aging in place can be ensured by adapting the built environment and providing accessible community support services. For these reasons in particular, it is important to explore various aspects of aging in place, especially the needs and desires of the elderly in this regard, the obstacles and deficiencies they face, and the spatial differences between them. Due to these reasons a national study titled The Model of Quality Aging in Place in Slovenia was conducted in Slovenia between 2017 and 2020. The study was supported by the Slovenian Research Agency (grant number J5-8243). Its main objective was to determine the optimal conditions for quality aging in place and the support services required for the elderly to remain full members of society for as long as possible and thus actively involved in social life, all supported by a system that is financially sustainable for the government. The most important results of the study were presented at the conference and in the conference paper.
B.03 Paper at an international scientific conference
COBISS.SI-ID: 2923459In Slovenia, the ownership structure of apartments and housing units is predominant. More than 80% of occupied dwellings are owner-occupied. This is because of two processes. First, until independence in 1991 so-called “self-build” was the most widespread form of building individual houses. Second, after independence, a radical privatization of the state-owned rental housing stock was carried out. In the period of rapid population ageing, it turned out that owner-occupied housing stock is not suitable for the changing needs of the elderly. This article therefore presents housing conditions in the own-occupied dwellings from the perspective of old peoples’ living. In case of self-built residential houses, for example, houses are of a very big size built in two or three floors with staircases which are unheated and poorly illuminated, entrances are in the high ground floor and accessible only by stairs, rooms are often small and floor plans do not allow the change of different use of rooms and organization of life, the corridors are narrow, absence of a bathroom in the main living area and inappropriate bathroom furnishings (e.g., bathtubs instead of showers, absence of grab bars) etc. Due to a poor supply of building materials and equipment cheap materials in equipment were installed. Often the basic plan of houses was adjusted by self-builders, but many of the solutions that self-builders understood as good, and which served well at that time to some extent turned out to be unsuitable in the period of old age. In multi-dwelling buildings, the construction was focused at rapid and inexpensive creating of a larger number of dwellings in concentrated neighborhoods due to the chronic shortage of housing after second World War. Namely, same as other socialist countries also state-owned enterprises started to build apartment blocks for the workers, predominantly agricultural population that migrate to cities where it was easier to find a source of income. Residential plans of multi-dwelling buildings and apartments in them were predicted for healthy, young people, families with children. But same as in the case of self-built residential houses also for this construction, which was spatially minimalistic, rational, cheap, prefabricated turned out to have many architectural obstacles in old age, such as stairs, thresholds, slippery floors, heavy doors, halls that are too narrow etc. Beside architectural obstacles article presents other negative sides of the elderlies’ living in the owner-occupied housing in Slovenia, such as maintenance costs, and suggests some solutions.
B.03 Paper at an international scientific conference
COBISS.SI-ID: 2901443The paper presents part of the results of an extensive research on the housing and living conditions conducted among the elderly living in their home environments in Slovenia. The aim of the research was to perform in-depth investigation on this subject, that covered aspects including: housing quality, housing needs and preferences, social relationships in the residential environment, emerging alternative housing opportunities and housing-related economic aspects. This discussion focuses primarily on the housing quality and living circumstances of the elderly. As previously conducted research in this area has consistently shown, the results of this survey also reveal relatively high levels of satisfaction of the elderly with their housing and living conditions. This finding presents the premise for the discussion in the second part of the paper, following the presentation of the survey results. The questions that we try to find answers to are: a) is the housing in which elderly people live truly of such high quality and b) if it’s not, why then do elderly people appear to be satisfied with their low-quality housing?
B.03 Paper at an international scientific conference
COBISS.SI-ID: 2888131Home care is one of the key services for ensuring quality ageing in place. In Slovenia, home care began to develop in the 1990s, but only a small proportion of the elderly is included in it. The article presents what types of assistance the older people receive or would need to perform certain activities. It turned out that the family in Slovenia is the primary care provider to the elderly and thus confirms a high level of familyism for Slovenia, but unfortunately, support for family careers by social policies is relatively small.
F.30 Professional assessment of the situation
COBISS.SI-ID: 2869955