Rapid Assessment of Needs and Services in Long-Term Care

With the growing number of older population, our society raises the need to organise various forms of care. In contemporary society, this is considered to be a long-term care system. Since Slovenia does not yet have a long-term care system based on long-term care legislation, while the demographic trends show a great need for it, it is essential to investigate the needs of older people and the possible responses to their needs. By using the method of rapid assessment of needs and services in the Municipality of Straža, we have identified the nature and extent of long-term distress, and sought effective responses to the needs of older people following the modern guidelines of care and substitutions for institutional care. We have found that the population of the municipality is old, the young population is moving away, and the middle generation commutes daily to work outside the municipality. There is no one available to take care of the older population and this trend will continue in the future. The solutions may be found in the organisation of community assistance within the municipality and in regional integration. When planning new services, however, the trend of lowering the quality of well-being of older people, overcoming the prevailing taboos about the phenomena of old age and strengthening the autonomy and power of older people, their social network and introducing modern information and communication technology should be taken into account in the context of social policy.