| Abstract [eng] |
The final master's project discusses the Role of non-governmental organizations in provision of Social Services for Elderly People in Lithuania. The aging of the population is one of the most important problems of all times in all European countries, influencing its economy, social policy, health care system and other spheres of society and obliging to expand the field of social services in qualitative and quantitative terms (Aleksienė, 2013). The purpose of social services is to improve the quality of life of the elderly by enabling them to live in their own home for as long as possible and to manage their household independently. The provision of social services involves a variety of providers - the public sector, non-governmental organizations, private institutions, volunteers and informal care providers (Kaminskienė, 2011). Non-governmental organizations are identified as non-governmental, not-for-profit and independent organizations that create and operate bottom-up incentive initiatives and have a close look at social issues, their causes and possible solutions. NGOs are successful in an ever-changing environment, are flexible and responsive to the social needs of the elderly. The non-governmental sector performs functions that due to lack of time, lack of human resources or other reasons, cannot be properly performed by the public or private sector (Žalimienė, Rimsaite, 2007). Non-governmental organizations that provide social services for the elderly in Lithuania were selected as the research object of this work. Therefore, the final project analyzes the role of non-governmental organizations in providing social services to the elderly in Lithuania. To achieve the aim of the thesis three tasks were set up which aim to : 1) introduce the concept of social services, their types and opportunities of non-governmental organizations to provide social services to the elderly; 2) to formulate a methodology for investigating the role of non-governmental organizations in the provision of social services to the elderly; and 3) to evaluate the perspectives of non-governmental organizations in the provision of social services and to make recommendations for strengthening this role. Structure: introduction, 3 main sections, conclusions and recommendations. In the first section, which analyzes the theory, examines the concept of social services and NGOs, and presents the problems of providing social services to the elderly. The main features of NGO social services organization and legal regulation of NGOs are discussed, definitions of elderly people and demographic indicators of aging population are presented. The research section is devoted to the development of methodology for the organization of social service provision in non-governmental organizations and presents three research methods using quantitative research methodology with secondary data analysis, qualitative research – content analysis using MAXQDA program, and a semi – structured personal interviews. The interviews involved three users of social services, three service providers from non-governmental organizations and three service providers from the public sector. The results of the study showed that the role of non-governmental organizations in the provision of social services to the elderly is growing, as public services do not meet the needs of the population. In order for non-governmental organizations providing social services to grow, recommendations are being made to improve the legal framework, to introduce a single telephone number for elderly people in Lithuania, and to encourage volunteering. |
