The quality of life of elderly in the nursing homes

Cilj ovog rada bio je upoznati kvalitetu života starijih osoba smještenih u domove za starije i nemoćne osobe. Objašnjeni su koncepti kvaliteta života i usamljenost te njihova međusobna povezanost. Također, detaljnije je razrađen dugotrajni oblik skrbi te u sklopu njega domovi za starije i nemoćne osobe. Nadalje, prikazani su i uspoređeni rezultati istraživanja provedenih u Hrvatskoj i odabranim zemljama svijeta, na temelju kojih se došlo do nekoliko važnih spoznaja. Formulirano je ukupno deset dimenzija subjektivne kvalitete života u domovima za koje su starije osobe istaknule kako imaju značajan utjecaj na njihovu kvalitetu života. Osobita pažnja pridala se socijalnim kontaktima koji su u ranijim istraživanjima bili podcijenjeni u odnosu na zdravlje i njegu. Uz to, utvrđena je pozitivna povezanost između kvalitete života i zadovoljstva uslugama doma. Najlošije procijenjeni aspekti kvalitete života su financijska samostalnost i aktivnosti u domu. S druge strane, zadovoljstvo uslugama osoblja najbolje je procijenjen aspekt domskih usluga. Postoje brojne razlike među zemljama glede socijalne politike prema starijoj populaciji pa je izgledno da navedene dimenzije i aspekti neće biti jednako vrednovani od strane korisnika domova u drugim državama.The aim of this paper was to understand the quality of life of elderly placed in nursing homes. The concepts of quality of life and loneliness are explained, as well as their mutual connection. Likewise, a long-term care and nursing homes as part of it are elaborated in more detail. Furthermore, the results of the researches conducted in Croatia and selected countries of the world are represented and compared, on the basis of which several important findings were made. A total of ten dimensions of subjective quality of life in nursing homes were formulated for which the elderly have pointed out that they have important impact on their quality of life. The dimension of social contacts was given a specific attention which have been underestimated in the previous researches in relation to health and care. Besides that, positive correlation between the quality of life and the satisfaction with the services in the home has been confirmed. The lowest ranking evaluated aspects of the quality of life are financial independence and activities in nursing homes. On the other side, the highest ranking evaluated aspect of the services in the home was the satisfaction with the service of staff. There are numerous differences among the countries in aspect of social policy towards the elderly population and therefore it is likely that all of these dimensions and aspects will not be evaluated completely the same by the residents of nursing homes in other countries