VOLUME 10, NUMBER 1, 2007

Economic dimensions of population ageing in Slovenia: How to cope with the consequences, using active ageing approach
Vlado Dimovski, Jana Žnidaršič

The European population is ageing. It is expected that there will be a 20% increase in the 50-64 age category over the next 15 years. Phenomenon of ageing population is driven by the following demographic realities: the baby boom generation reaching retirement age, increasing human longevity, and declining birthrates. The effect is fostered by attitudinal shifts in society, as: the attitude towards work, the attitude towards age, and the attitude towards life in general. The Slovenian population is ageing, having impact on many fields and different levels. The consequences are expected to erupt on economic, social and political life. The aim of the article is to call the attention on the problems and consequences of population ageing in Slovenia, with the emphasis on economic field. Understanding in depth and having the insight in anticipated consequences is the key enabling to develop tools and actions for controlling and mastering the phenomena of ageing. The main message of the article is to point at the importance of holistic, integrative approach in age management, including actors from different levels, as well as from different fields, in searching for compatible and sustainable responses on population ageing challenge.

Key words: ageing of population, consequences of population ageing, active ageing approach

Scenarios for Care: anticipating the coming caring deficit - and how it can be met
Michael Fine, Rolf Rønning

Planning scenarios, produced regularly by public authorities, are normally based solely on demographic estimates. When used in the field of aged care a high percentage of the elderly and a prolonged life expectancy are interpreted as implying a high caring ratio, while the opposite results are seen as reducing the ‘caring burden’. The organisation of care is not a variable in this equation but is rather seen as a constant. But as the demand for carers grows and the costs of caring outstrip the supply of care labour and available resources, new ways of organising care will be introduced. We want to stimulate the discussion of solutions to the caring deficit. In this paper seek to do so by first examining the concept and assumptions that underlie it, and then by discussing the possible alternatives ways that this may be organised. Care for the elderly, we argue, can be a mixture of different models where family, the market and the public services are involved. Informed by the typology of welfare regimes developed by Esping Andersen, we review the scenario approach used in one Scandinavian and one Australian study. Drawing on these short case studies, we advance a modest proposal concerning the development and potential use of care scenarios in the final section of the paper.

Key words: care scenarios, caring deficit, Australia, Sweden

Risks for old people in a rural, remote community Javor and the solutions
Marjetka Štepic

The article discusses the life of old people in a remote, rural community (the village Javor), on periphery of the Municipal Community of Ljubljana. The purpose of the study was to get in contact with old people living there. The author was interested in their everyday life, their social networks, the importance of health for them, the access to different services, on the basis of which risk factors for old people and their solutions were assessed. She also wanted to find out the characteristics of a remote, rural community: the characteristics of the village Javor, presence of a neighborhood help, the presence of community places, access to information, infrastructure etc. The author was exploring whether the village Javor is one of the typical Slovenian villages where neighborhood help and connections are dying out, customs and habits are disappearing, old people are becoming increasingly isolated, farms are being abandoned and old people left on their own.

Key words: community, rural areas, social networks, risks, community social work, social changes, old people, help