Socijalna politika i kvaliteta života starijih osoba s tjelesnim invaliditetom

U radu je prikazano istraživanje čiji su ciljevi bili ispitati neke aspekte kvalitete života starijih osoba s tjelesnim invaliditetom te povezanost sa socijalnom politikom. Aspekti kvalitete života odnosili su se na: socioekonomska obilježja, snalaženje u svakodnevnom životu i mobilnost, formalne i neformalne oblike socijalne podrške te subjektivne izvore snage. Željelo se utvrditi razlikuju li se navedeni aspekti kvalitete života starije s obzirom na mlađu dobnu skupinu osoba s tjelesnim invaliditetom. Uzorak se sastojao od 480 osoba s invaliditetom, a starijih od 65 godina u promatranom je uzorku bilo 105. Istraživanje je proveo Hrvatski savez udruga tjelesnih invalida u ožujku 2003. godine. Podaci su prikupljeni u cijeloj Hrvatskoj putem polustrukturiranog upitnika. Rezultati su pokazali da starije osobe s invaliditetom imaju povoljnu stambenu situaciju i donekle prilagođen stan vlastitim potrebama. Materijalna situacija im je loša, upućeni su na ortopedska pomagala, okolina im je nepristupačna, prava koriste rijetko jer nisu dovoljno informirani i informacije najčešće primaju putem medija. Njihova socijalna mreža je mala, najviše usmjerena na djecu i supružnika. Izvori formalne podrške (stručnjaci iz centra za socijalnu skrb, predstavnici vlasti i političari) su nezadovoljavajući. Uglavnom je procjena njihove kvalitete života lošija od osoba s invaliditetom mlađe dobi.Ovakvi rezultati upućuju na potrebu bolje skrbi i podrške od strane zajednice prema osobama s tjelesnim invaliditetom te važnost socijalnog uključivanja kako bi se poboljšala kvaliteta njihova života.The paper presents the research the aims of which were to analyse some aspects of the quality of life of elderly persons with physical disability and the connection with social policy. The aspects of quality of life related to: socio-economic indicators, coping with everyday life and mobility, formal and informal forms of social support and subjective sources of strength. The aim was to determine whether the aforementioned aspects of the quality of life of elderly age group differ from those of the younger age group of disabled persons. The sample consisted of 480 disabled persons, out of which 105 persons were older than 65. The research was conducted by the Croatian Association of Disabled Persons in March, 2003. The data was obtained throughout Croatia via semi-structured survey. The results have shown that elderly disabled persons enjoy a favourable housing situation and that their housing is partly adjusted to their needs. Their financial situation is poor, they have to use orthopaedic aids, the environment is inaccessible to them, they rarely use their rights due to the lack of information about them, and they most frequently get informed through the media. Their social network is small, mostly including their children and spouses. The sources of formal support (professionals from Social Welfare Centres, the government representatives and politicians) are inadequate. In general, the assessment of their quality of life is lower than those of younger disabled persons.Such results point out that there is a need to provide a better care and support by the community for the persons with physical disability, and emphasise the importance of social inclusion in order to improve their quality of life