Innovations in Long-Term Care: The Case of Old People’s Homes in Slovenia

Abstract

Long-term care is a phenomenon that may be described as a response to demographic changes faced by all countries of the world. The rapid aging of the population and the simultaneous decrease in the percentage of the young population in modern industrial societies have radically affected the systems that until recently have been relatively stable. Higher life expectancy, the advance of medicine, the decrease in the share of active population and the increasing number of assistance-dependent persons caused changes in family and intergenerational relations (Flaker et al., 2008; Österle, 2011; Leichsenring et al., 2013; Mali, 2013). The ratio of people offering assistance to people receiving assistance has radically changed. As a consequence, the risk of the failure to provide adequate care and support has increased, while at the Innovations in long-term care: The case of old people’s homes in Slovenia