A decent age with a minimum pension

Diplomska naloga obravnava temo starih ljudi na podeželju, ki živijo v revščini. V teoretičnem delu sva opredelili celosten pogled na staranje. Opredelili sva procese, ki se dogajajo v človeškem telesu (fizično in psihično) in v socialni mreži med procesom staranja. Teorije staranja so podlaga za opredelitev revščine in njenega vpliva na starega človeka. Revščina ima na življenje starih ljudi v ruralnem okolju vplive na različnih področjih. Kvaliteta življenja starih ljudi, ki živijo v kmečkem okolju v revščini, je zelo slaba, čeprav so razvili različne strategije preživetja. Revščina vpliva na zdravstveno stanje starih ljudi. Za svoje zdravje stari ljudje v revščini ne morejo poskrbeti enako kvalitetno kot bi to lahko storili, če bi imeli na razpolago dovolj finančnih sredstev. Fizično zdravstveno stanje se spreminja z raznolikimi bolečinami, ki se pojavljajo v hrbtenici in drugih sklepih, ki omejujejo mobilnost starega človeka. Finančno stanje starega človeka se po upokojitvi spremeni, saj so mesečni dohodki po upokojitvi manjši. Razlike so tudi v višini prejete pokojnine, glede na izpolnjevanje pogojev za starostno pokojnino. Veliko starih ljudi je tako zaradi svojega slabega finančnega stanja po upokojitvi, odvisnih od dodatkov k pokojnini s strani države (varstveni dodatek,…) in pa od svojcev. Starim ljudem finančno pomagajo predvsem njihovi otroci, ki jim s svojimi finančnimi prispevki omogočajo vsaj delno olajšanje finančnih izdatkov. Starim ljudem so njihovi otroci osnovna socialna mreža. Širšo socialno mrežo sestavljajo še sorojenci in starši (če jih še imajo), zraven spadajo tudi prijatelji. Socialna mreža se starim ljudem zmanjšuje iz več razlogov. Eden od razlogov je ta, da zaradi omejene mobilnosti ne morejo več prisostvovati na srečanjih s prijatelji, prav tako pa jim finančno stanje ne dopušča, da bi hodili k prijateljem na obiske (in tako vzdrževali prijateljske stike), saj jih je sram njihovega finančnega stanje. Dejstvo, da si ne morejo privoščiti pozornosti (darila, ki ga prinese obisk s seboj na obisk kot so kava, piškoti,…), ki v naši družbi velja kot »dobra navada«, jim povzroča strese in občutek sramu. V izogib tem občutkom se stari ljudje raje izogibajo obiskovanja svojih prijateljev in kot posledica sledi izgubljanje stikov. Socialna mreža se manjša tudi zaradi smrti prijateljev.The thesis deals with the topic of old people in a rural area living in poverty. In the theoretical part, we have tried to present a comprehensive view of ageing. We have identified problems that occur in the human body, psyche and society that afflict the ageing process. Theories of ageing serve as a good basis to explain poverty and its impact on the old people. For old people living in rural areas, poverty has multiple effects on their lives. The quality of life of old people living in rural areas in poverty is very poor, however, they develop various survival strategies. Poverty affects old people’s health. Due to poverty older people cannot take care of their health as they would with better financial resources. Physical health afflictions manifest as a variety of pain occurring in the spine and joints, which restrict the mobility of an old person. The financial condition of old people changes after their retirement, as their monthly income decreases – with variability depending on the criteria of retirement. Due to their poor financial condition and after retirement, many old people become dependent on pension supplements provided by the state and on their close ones. Old people are financially supported mainly by their children, who at least partly alleviate their parents’ financial expenses with financial contributions. Children are the basic social network of old people. A wider social network comprises their siblings and parents (if they are still alive), along with their friends. The social network of old people narrows due to many reasons. One of the reasons is that, due to limited mobility, they cannot meet their friendsmoreover, they cannot visit their friends (and maintain a friendly relationship with them) due to their financial situation as they are ashamed of it. They cannot afford to buy a gift when visiting their friends (such as a pack of coffee or a pack of biscuits), which is considered as a good habit in our society, and that causes stress and arouses the feeling of shame in old person. To avoid these feelings, old people do not visit their friendsconsequently, they cannot maintain a friendly relationship with them. Their social network also narrows due to the death of their friends