To What Extent Are Social Services in the Ostrava Region Available to Senior Citizens?

Miroslava Mošová, Martina Pulkertová, Oldřich Chytil

To What Extent Are Social Services in the Ostrava Region Available to Senior Citizens?

Číslo: 1/2018
Periodikum: Sociální práce

Klíčová slova: affordability, geographical accessibility, time availability, awareness, social services, senior citizens

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Anotace: OBJECTIVES: The presented paper focuses on availability of social services for older people in

the Ostrava region with an aim to examine to what extent social services are available to senior
citizens. THEORETICAL BASE: The theoretical background presents the current state of
knowledge based on the study of professional literature and on the results of the research carried
out in the studied areas. METHODS: The article presents the results obtained from the original
quantitative research strategy that made use of structured interviews. OUTCOMES: Research,
in addition to the results of different aspects of the availability of social services and senior’s
awareness of social services, showed also e.g. that social services are too expensive for respondents,
and that seniors are ‘forced’ to use care allowances mostly to cover medical costs rather than to
cover social services. The paper in the end also analyses the causes of the underuse of social services
by seniors. SOCIAL WORK IMPLICATIONS: The findings contribute to knowledge in fields
of availability of social services for the elderly in the Ostrava region, use of care allowance, and
seniors’ awareness of social services. This research can provide background for improvement in
quality of social services for senior citizens in the Ostrava region.