POJEDINA OBILJEŽJA KVALITETE ŽIVOTA OSOBA S DUŠEVNIM SMETNJAMA – PERSPEKTIVA KORISNIKA USLUGE CASE MANAGEMENTA I OSOBA SMJEŠTENIH U DOM ZA ODRASLE

Abstract

SOME ASPECTS OF QUALITY OF LIFE OF PEOPLE WITH MENTAL DISABILITIES – PERSPECTIVE OF CASE MANAGEMENT USERS AND PEOPLE IN MENTAL HEALTH FACILITIES ABSTRACT This paper presents two perspectives of people with mental disabilities on their perception of quality of life. Main aim of this paper was to develop a deeper knowledge about certain aspects of quality of life of people with mental health disabilities from the perspective of case management users and people in mental health facilities in the geographical area of Zagreb. Aspects of quality of life that we were interested in were: general health (physical and mental), social and environmental aspects (focusing on social transfers mostly). For this purpose, qualitative research approach was selected and data was collected through semi-structured interviews on the total sample of 8 users. Participants of this study were persons in direct contact with mental health facility »Dom za odrasle – Zagreb«. The mentioned mental health facility is providing case management program for their users, and therefore we had four participants from a case management group and four participants that were accommodated in the mental health facility. The results showed significant differences in social functioning, perception of mental health, as well as in environmental domain on behalf of case management users. Physical health is perceived better in mental health facilities. Key words: quality of life; people with mental disabilities; case management; metal health facilities; social work