Paper/Speech Details of Conference Program for the 29th NISPAcee Annual Conference Program Overview PhD Pre-conference Seminar Author(s) Barbara Purkart University of Ljubljana Ljubljana Slovenia Janez Stare, University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Public Administration, Ljubljana, Slovenia Title Evaluation of institutional care for the elderly in the Republic of Slovenia in crisis conditions related to the covid – 19 pandemics File Paper files are available only for conference participants, please login first. Presenter Barbara Purkart Abstract An important field in public administration science is a study of complex problems which arise from the praxis. In the last year and a half, we have all been involved and affected by covid – 19 pandemics and its consequences on our life and work. In specific, the field of public service, institutional care for the elderly, which, in Slovenia, is organized as a net of services provided by the state. We are interested in how the organization of work in crisis conditions was handled despite different limitations and obstacles. Through a sociological outline of the risk society, which we live in, we will present the prevalence of the state of emergency and define it through a philosophical-historical perspective. Emergencies are rarely declared and are expected to last as short as possible. However, they are always associated with restrictions of freedom and rights of the most vulnerable groups in particular. Overview of the research work done on our topics shows, that there are four main groups of research work related to the topics. The topics in question are research work on the field related to the covid – 19 pandemics and the elderly, research work done on the field of institutional care for elderly, research of organization of work in crisis conditions in the public sector and research of operation of public services in crisis conditions. With our investigation we would like to examine how and in which way it is possible to improve the preparedness of performers of institutional care for the elderly for further crisis conditions which will arise in future. We will touch upon crisis management protocols, crisis preparedness, crisis staffing plans and crisis communication plans. Our main research question is in what way and with what results did actors of institutional care for elderly in Slovenia organize their work in crisis conditions related to the covid – 19 pandemics and what the opportunities for improvement are. Research questions in our investigations are: To what extent were actors of institutional care for the elderly in Slovenia prepared for the crisis conditions related to the covid – 19 pandemics? As the research method we will use the analysis of legal and institutional support. What do Slovenian results say in comparison to other EU countries. Where are the biggest deviations, what was organized better and what less than average? We will use the analysis of secondary data and the comparison analysis method. How is the organization of work in crisis conditions evaluated by employees in institutional care for the elderly? Is assessment different among different work groups? Where do employees see the shortcomings and mistakes? We will perform a survey among employees in all Slovenian institutional care for the elderly providers and later for conformation or explanation of results, we will also perform the qualitative survey on two focus groups, with representatives of management teams and representatives of other work groups. What kind of guidelines and recommendations in regards to previous research questions, can we provide in order to optimally organize the implementation of institutional care for the elderly for a future crisis? We will propose a model of evaluation of institutional care in crisis conditions. The dissertation will also contribute to the better understanding of differences in the results of the organization of work in the institutional care for the elderly in crisis situations related to the covid-19 pandemic in Slovenia and globally. In praxis the dissertation will contribute to better planning and implementation of the organization of work in crisis situations in institutional care for the elderly in Slovenia.
