The aim of the study was to explore Slovenian midwives’ views of their professional status. The influence of participants’ educational background on their views was also examined. This was a quantitative descriptive survey. The questionnaire comprised of six elements crucial for professionalism – three elements of ‘old’ professionalism (power, ethics, specific knowledge) and three of ‘new’ professionalism (reflective practice, inter-professional collaboration and partnership with users). A total of 300 midwives registered in a national. The response rate was 50.7% 128 questionnaires were eligible for analysis (43%). Findings show that the majority of participants did not consider midwifery to be a specific profession. The respondents reported feeling a lack of control over their professional activity and policy making; however the majority of midwives claimed that they were willing to take on more responsibility for independent practice.
F.22 Improvement to existing health/diagnostic methods/procedures
COBISS.SI-ID: 4898155Cognitive interviews are a useful tool for questionnaire pretesting. However, detailed information on the proper way of performing them is scarce-researchers use this method without agreement on applicable techniques or specific rules on their realization. Additionally, users of cognitive interviewing techniques only seldom explain the pretesting results in their research, leaving it to readers to trust their outcomes. Follow-up observations on the success of the interviews and the overall experience are rarely, if ever, presented. We were interested in the learnability of the techniques when performed by non-experienced, newly instructed interviewers; moreover, we wanted to understand the most common problems they had experienced. During a five-year period, 120 methodology students performed 612 cognitive interviews and analyzed 17 different survey questionnaires. The precise documentation of their assignment served as a detailed database of qualitative and quantitative information on their experiences. The results present the first-time interviewers' ability to accurately perform and analyze a cognitive interview. We show the most common mistakes and issues in all stages of the interviewing process, the influence of different interviewers' and respondents' characteristics, and the effect of the technique on the interview's success.
F.24 Improvements to existing system-wide, normative and programme solutions, and methods
COBISS.SI-ID: 32815965Slovenia faced a pronounced recession, which was further exacerbated by political instability with the restructuring of both left- and right-wing political coalitions. These pressures, coupled with an emphasis on austerity, have led to structural welfare system reforms resulting in a step-change in the reform process. The present paper considers future directions of the Slovenian welfare system, using data from attitude surveys, analyses of policy documents and other sources to examine the country’s policies and future directions.
F.18 Transfer of new know-how to direct users (seminars, fora, conferences)
COBISS.SI-ID: 33486429The article discusses the issues of social exclusion and how this contributes to the unmet need for long term care. Its main findings point out that welfare regimes modify the relationship between social exclusion and unmet long term care. Countries in the Eastern European welfare regime seem to be most at risk on this issue, which means that policymakers should focus more strongly on the consequences of social exclusion when developing long term care policy.
F.02 Acquisition of new scientific knowledge
COBISS.SI-ID: 33584989We analysed housing conditions of the older Slovenian population with regard to its adequacy for ageing at home. By using data base SHARE 2011 the cross-country comparison is made. Housing stock of the Slovenian elderly was found to be characterised by high incidences of home-ownership and of single-family housing units, both among highest among 16 SHARE countries. In addition, homes were found to be less frequently adapted to the needs of persons with moving difficulties, while specific housing complexes for elderly was not even detected in the sample. Slovenian older households were found to be larger, with fewer single households and more frequent occurrence of an adult offspring, thus indicating a strong presence of famililalism. It is thus found that the housing stock, used by Slovenian elderly population, is among the least adapted to the needs of the elderly population. To facilitate better opportunities for ageing at home, the programs of community care and housing adaptations are recommended.
F.30 Professional assessment of the situation
COBISS.SI-ID: 1781390