Suchergebnisse

Responses of social work to measures for containing the Covid-19 epidemic in homes for old people
The first part of the article shows how the covid-19 epidemic revived ideas about the development of social work with old people. More frequent violations of human rights, increasing discrimination of old people, and searching for answers to the increasingly severe hardships of the social isolation of the old people – these are topics that call for the establishment of specialization for social work with old people. The development of specialized knowledge also benefits the development of social work in homes for old people. Some key practices for the development of new areas of social work in homes are shown. In the central part of the paper, research with social workers in Slovenian homes is described and the results of the epidemic's impact on social work are presented. The article presents the key challenges for social work, how social work maintains its role at organizing institutional care and what are the most pressing ethical dilemmas of social work. Both the shortcomings and advantages of social work are shown in order to recognize the existing risks for social work as an opportunity for further development of the profession.

Perceptions of professional identity and its formation during education at the Faculty of Social Work, University of Ljubljana

Professional identity in social work can be described as a collection of identifiable and enduring professional qualities of social workers that bind them together as a professional group and make them different and unique compared to other professional groups. As the social work profession is devalued and stigmatized around the world, exploring the processes involved in developing a strong and positive professional identity is of great importance. The need to explore social work professional identity has been recognized in some places abroad and has mainly focused on researching professional identity formation during social work education. This paper presents findings on the definition and role of professional identity in social work, focusing on professional identity formation during education at the Faculty of Social Work, University of Ljubljana. Qualitative research on social work students' perceptions of professional identity is presented, as well as suggestions for a more frequent and discrete treatment of the topic during the education of future social workers.

An overview of the results of the final theses of students of the Faculty of Social Work on social work with people with dementia
A meta-analysis of students' theses from the past five years (2016–2020) on the topic of social work with people with dementia is presented. Among the themes explored, work in institutions as well as work in the family setting of people with dementia predominate; community work topics emerge to a lesser extent. Thus, the role of social work and the use of social work methods are researched somewhat more in institutions, but again, only in individual institutions. However, this topic does not appear in research on people with dementia in the home setting. Most research is qualitative and based on non-random convenience samples using interviews as the method of data collection. Often, students explore the challenges and needs of those involved in caring for people with dementia, but with less emphasis on numbers. In the future, the focus will need to be on research on community and on (social) work with people with dementia in their home environments, and the use of social work methods and other forms of work with people with dementia need to be explored in more depth.

Overview and analysis of current concepts in social work with people with dementia

The article presents the research project "Long-term care of people with dementia in social work theory and practice", the first Slovene national study in the field of research on the social dimensions of dementia. The first part presents the conceptual background of social work, which is the link between social work with people with dementia and the paradigmatic changes in long-term care. The second part presents the importance of the development of long-term care for people with dementia, the third part presents the purpose and objectives of the research project, and the fourth part elaborates the conceptual background, which is the basic guiding principle of the research in the project. Particular emphasis is placed on the methodological selection of current foreign scientific articles dealing with the topic presented, which have been published in the last twenty years in English. The results of the analysis show that three conceptual orientations prevail in the field of social work with people with dementia: (1) exploration of needs, (2) destigmatisation and anti-discrimination of people with dementia, and (3) participation of people with dementia in processes of help and support. In the concluding part, the author relates the findings of the analysis to the contemporary starting points of social work with people with dementia in Slovenia.

On the basis of a systematic review of the literature, this article addresses the issue of employment of people with disabilities and analyzes current trends in disability employment to classify employment in social enterprises in the typology of employment models for people with disabilities. For the purpose of classification, the article also identifies individual models of disability which coincide with the characteristics of employment in social enterprises. The upgraded typology is the main contribution of the article; it could serve as an important classification tool for individual approaches to this issue, and thus help to develop appropriate policies for the employment of people with disabilities through a comparative analysis of individual countries. Keywords: employment, typology of employment models, people with disabilities, social enterprises, work-integration social enterprises, models of disability

Abstract. The article examines how the landscape of social networks has significantly transformed the job search process. The objective of the study was to evaluate attitudes to searching for a job on social media with a focus on students attending the Faculty of Economics, University of Prishtina. The findings indicate that selfperceived level of social media activity is associated with time spent on social networks, and that unemployed individuals are more likely than those with jobs to use social media. The results show the most popular methods used for job searching were social media networks and online job portals. A noteworthy finding is that even individuals who do not use social networks recognise the importance of maintaining a professional profile on social media when it comes to searching for work. The study's findings hold implications for both job seekers and employers by highlighting the importance of using social media while searching for a job, necessitating strategic investments in online platforms, customised support programmes harnessing these platforms, enhanced digital literacy, and continuous research to adapt policies in response to evolving social media trends among job seekers.
Keywords: social media, job searching, recruitment, digitalisation

Impact of Covid-19 epidemic on the lives of residents of homes for old people
The year 2020 was marked by the Covid-19 epidemic, which had the greatest impact on socially vulnerable groups, especially old people. Based on qualitative research, the article explains the impact of measures to curb the Covid-19 epidemic on the lives of old people in the Ajdovščina Home for the Old People. During this period, social work found itself in a difficult situation and was forced to respond. In institutions for old people, it found itself in an unenviable position, as it had to adapt very quickly to new challenges - to maintain contact in a time that severely limited physical contact, and to enable communication between residents and their loved ones. The article connects homes for old people with the concept of a total institution and shows how social work in the home for old people coped with challenges during the Covid-19 epidemic. The impact of epidemiological measures and social isolation on people's mental health and everyday life is shown. The fundamental tasks of social workers in crisis situations are listed.

Use of stimulating activities in social work with people with dementia
With growing number of cases of dementia, social work with people with dementia faces new challenges in maintaining dignity in the lives of people with dementia and their families. The article discusses the importance of continuous implementation of various stimulating activities for people with dementia in homes for older people (which are also suitable for implementation in home environment), and their well-being, maintenance of self-worth and self-esteem. Stimulating activities are non-pharmacological forms of care and include various areas: daily tasks (in household and garden), physical exercise, cognitive exercises, as well as complementary activities such as: music and visual arts activities, playing with babies, incorporating modern information technologies, aromatherapy. Stimulating activities can be provided by social workers, occupational therapists and other professionals. Their goal is to maintain cognitive abilities, slow the progression of dementia, and promote well-being of people with dementia. In stimulating activities, the person with dementia, together with a professional, discovers activities that they can manage and enjoy. This leads to reduction in the behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia.

Usefulness of existing databases on homeless people for policymaking
The article, based on different quality indicators (such as stability of definitions, data accessibility, connectivity and data interchangeability, frequency of data collection, targeting population, exclusivity and data accuracy), explores three types of databases on homeless people. Among analyzed databases, there are: a) database on social care programmes financed by the Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities; b) database on social care programmes included in evaluation sheme financed by this ministry; c) database on information system of centres for social work. The article's main contribution is a systematic review of databases usefulness, their (dis)advantages, and opportunities for researchers and policymakers.

The existing empirical studies examined the impact of different variables, such as common language, economic, cultural and geographical factors, on migration. However, none of the studies deals with the social security systems including their coordination as a relevant explanatory factor. The paper focuses on the social security systems in Europe, their mutual coordination and their influence on international migration. The influence of social systems on economic migration can be twofold: influencing the labour migration, i.e. migrants who move for work, and also influencing the benefit migration, i.e. migrants who move in order to receive social benefits. We present the advanced migration model extended by the factors of social security coordination. The main finding is that the labour migration prevails significantly over the benefit migration. Role of social systems as social magnets was not proved to be statistically significant. Adapted from the source document.

The article contributes to the theoretical debate on the current state of the global economic system and the implications it holds for the (re)distribution of social and economic power. The theoretical framework of the discussion builds upon critical accounts of the rise of platform capitalism – an economic and social system founded on digitalised work. The imagining of futures is based on the mapping of possible actors and paths of the continuation or disruption of ongoing trends. Although digitalisation in principle holds the potential to foster economic growth and reduce inequalities, the accelerated development of the digital economy in the last few decades has been accompanied by unequally distributed positive and negative economic outcomes. Overcoming the precariousness of work and life as a universal problem should be founded in simultaneous local, short-term, partial resistance and attempts to limit the negative impacts and spread of precariousness on one hand and conceptualising and promoting comprehensive and universal solutions to precariousness on the other as part of a general rethinking of the social, political and economic order of our age. Keywords: digital technology, digital economy, precarious work and life, platform economy, platform capitalism, economic power, economic inequalities