Professional paper
About the social protection of endangered categories of the Croatian islands population
Josip Sarić
; Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare of the Republic of Croatia, Zagreb, Croatia
Antun Petak
; Institute for Social Research of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
The tendencies of movement of the Croatian islands population (for instance, aged population
- approximately one fifth of islands inhabitants are over 65, and intensive depopulation) on the
one hand, and economic problems and depression on the other, are the main reasons why the
proportion of socially endangered categories within the total po pulation of the islands is relatively
very high. These are also the reasons why the government should bring in the
programme of social measures that would provide this population with acceptable social security.
The fact that the experts in the field of social welfare were not included in the making of
the National Islands Development Programme, makes the bringing in of the programme of social
measures even more actual since such measures are sure ty o ne of presumptions for the revitalization
of communities and economy on Croatian islands. And finally, there is also the issue
of institutional system as until now the social care has been carried o ut by the institutions headquartered
in bigger places, usually not on the islands, being this way far away from their beneficiaries
, i.e. clients.
The authors plead for a whole of the social welfare system and state in pa1ticular the following:
the care for elderly and enfeebled people provided in small dependencies of nursing homes
which should be set up on the islands (these dependencies would organize an appropriate
out-of-institution assistance with regard to the low standard of living and respecting the psycho-
social climate of accommodation), and the care for the children and the young who demonsti
·ate various forms of asocial, violent and other types of socially unacceptable behaviour (as
the prop01tion of the young manifesting these symptoms is significantly increasing, the care for
the children has been proclaimed the national prioriry, but the number of professionals and institutions
remained the same which means that such institutions are not equipped with professionals
of the appropriate profite, and this situation points out that the new forms of work
should be implemented and that the social care centres should be better equipped, for instance
for the work with neglected chi ldren through schools fo r parents, counsellor's service, then
through the inclusion of the NGOs, re-establishing the services for mental hea lth care in local
public medical care clinics etc.). The authors conclude this account with the remark that the
change of social picture and the efficiency of the proposed measures highly depend on the beginning
of the new development cycle as well as of the adequate treatment of the officials and
tbc professional staff in social welfare.
Keywords
social issues/problems; programme of measures; social welfare; Croatian islands
Hrčak ID:
100342
URI
Publication date:
12.12.2002.
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