NARRATIVE INTERVIEW AS A METHOD OF ASSESSING THE NEEDS OF THE ELDERLY

Abstract

The relevance of the article is due to the process of progressive aging of the population, so it requires society to find new ways of social work with the elderly. When determining a plan on the provision of assistance to a specific client, it is crucial to assess his needs and the available and necessary resources to meet them. For example, the social services of Great Britain have developed special forms that list more than 80 types of needs and problems. The assessment, the exploration of the needs felt by the client and observed by the social worker, becomes the basis of the plan of care. The article presents the results of a narrative interview with the wards of the Uzhhorod City Territorial Center of Social Services (n = 12). The purpose of the article is to characterize the narrative interview as a method of assessing the needs of the elderly. To achieve the set goal, we used the following general scientific research methods: generalization was used to determine the essential features of this method, and analysis, which consists of combining, and reproducing the connections of individual elements, sides, and components of a complex phenomenon and thus in understanding the whole in its unity components. Based on the analysis of narrative interviews of the wards of the Uzhhorod Territorial Center of Social Services (provision of social services) (February, 2018, n=12), it was established that the elderly who are in the territorial center are in need of free medicines, prosthetics Primary needs are fully satisfied, i. e. needs for food, warmth, protection, shelter, rest, sleep, etc. Secondary needs are partially met, and, unfortunately, not all interviewees indicated the feasibility of their implementation.