The organisation of care for older people in rural communities: Two case studies from Slovenia

Abstract

This article discusses the organisation of community care for older people in two rural municipalities in Slovenia, which are contrasting in terms of "wellbeing" attained. The two case studies are part of a wider research project on community care in the country, aiming to establish the typology of institutional care for older people at the level of municipality. As a follow-up to the initial research, both cases assessed the typology "on the ground". The various actors were selected by snowball sampling and interviewed about past and present forms of caring for older people. Contrary to the typology, the results of both cases show that institutional forms of care exist in both municipalities but differ in the field of cooperation among various formal and informal local care-practitioners. Care within families, still the prevalent informal care provider in both communities, hides the financial inability of locals to use some formal care services in their community. Uniform national standards for organisation of formal care notwithstanding, the results show the communities' peculiar adjustments to population ageing and their partial integration into society.