Health Perception of Homeless People.

The thesis focuses on homeless people's perception of their health. First, it should be pointed out that this issue has not been comprehensively analysed and described by experts. The theoretical part describes homeless people, their categories and characteristics and the problematic area of health care. Furthermore, the theoretical part also deals with different approaches to the concept of health and its determinants. Finally, it concentrates on the mental process of perception. The research was conducted using a qualitative research method, a survey method and a semi-structured interview. The research group consisted of five respondents (four men and a one woman) who are clients of at least one service for homeless people. The research group was selected by means of random sampling. The questions in the interview centred on a timeline; that is, how people had perceived their health before they became homeless, how they perceive it now and how they expect their health to evolve in the future. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was chosen as a research method. A narrative structure of themes was created and also the results were evaluated using this method. The most frequent themes that emerged during the analysis were the following three: rationality of thinking, emotional sentiment and moral thinking (or more generally, spiritual contemplation). The research has also often shown a struggle for human dignity. This thesis could help to raise awareness not only among social workers, but also among the general public. The results of the thesis can serve as an inspiration for application and development of social work in this field