Slovenia - Long-term care, home help, institutional care
This chapter covers rights connected to long-term care (dolgotrajna oskrba):
- home help (pomoč na domu)
- the community nursing service (patronažna služba) and
- institutional care for children, adults and the elderly (institucionalno varstvo otrok, odraslih in starejših)
There is no single (special) long-term care scheme in Slovenia.
In what situation can I claim?
Long-term care is a system of services which persons who as a result of various reasons are dependent on the help of others for a long-term period to ensure assistance for everyday living. Long-term care is carried out at home or in special institutions.
When a person is provided with housing and other conditions for living in the community, but for various reasons is unable to care for themselves, they may request home help. In this way they are assured help in daily activities, domestic assistance and help with social contact.
Distance assistance is operated through a telephone alarm (red button) 24 hours a day throughout the whole year.
Home nursing is a medical service prescribed by a specially chosen physician and is carried out in the form of care procedures such as: personal hygiene and healthcare for the patient, therapy programmes, injections, bandaging and others.
Institutional care is treatment in a special institution (home), other community or other form of set-up which substitutes for or ensures the function of a family. It covers primary care as well as social and health care.
For children and young people with specific needs, institutional care as well as education are included.
Adults with physical or mental development disorders are assured further specific care within the framework of institutional care.
What conditions do I need to meet?
Home help
Persons who live in their own accommodation but as a result of old age, illness, or disability require care assistance, but do not have suitable help from relatives, are entitled to home help. Those entitled are:
- persons over 65 who are unable to live fully by themselves;
- disabled persons with disabled status according to ZDVDTP, who are unable to live by themselves;
- disabled persons with rights to benefits for foreign assistance and care to carry out the majority of living functions;
- seriously ill children or children with serious physical or mental development disorders, who are not included in organised forms of care.
Home help begins with a request from a person, carer or relative and is carried out by the provider in an individual manner. Providers may also be the centre for social work, and public or private sheltered housing, or activity of an established institution.
Community nursing service
This service is intended for all persons who require home help in overcoming an illness, condition or chronic disability. Care also covers preventative care for disabled persons, persons with chronic illnesses and persons with developmental disorders.
Health care for a patient at home is carried out on the basis of an order given by a selected physician. Home care may also be continued with hospital health care; in this case the hospital will inform the community nurse.
The provider is the community nursing service working at a primary health care level (municipal level).
Institutional care
Those entitled to institutional care are:
- children and young persons and persons under 26 who are included in special educational programmes;
- adults with mental development disorders, with mental health difficulties, physical disorders or sensory or other disorders;
- persons, who as a result of old age or other reasons, are unable to live entirely independently and require further or less direct help and care.
The acceptance, relocation and release of the user entitled to rights to institutional care are carried out on the basis of the procedures for exercising the right to institutional care. The process for acceptance into a residential care home begins with submitting a request for acceptance into institutional care.
Institutional care is also assured by sheltered housing (oskrbovana stanovanja).
What am I entitled to and how can I claim?
Home help
This social assistance is tailored to the needs of the entitled individual, for which the extent of help includes basic domestic daily operations and the maintenance of social contact.
If the service is carried out within the framework of public services, part of the fee for services (at least 50%) is covered by the authority and part by the user.
Community nursing service
Preventative and treatment services are carried out by a community nurse. In connection with long-term care treatment, visits are arranged and cover the care of the patient at home, wound care, injections, taking samples for laboratory examination, etc.
Institutional care for the elderly
Institutional care covers: social and basic care as well as health care.
Care services are paid by the entitled person or with the aid of relatives of the authority.
Health care is assured by the compulsory health insurance system.
Persons entitled to social care services may request partial or full exemption from payment, which depends on their material position. Persons who are included in the compulsory health insurance system are entitled to free community nursing aid.
Jargon busters
Forms you may need to fill in
The form for admission into institutional care is available at the following address: form for admission into sheltered accommodation.
The form for provision of home help services can be accessed through your home provider. The list of providers is available at the following address: http://www.irssv.si/index.php/pomoc-na-domu.
Know your rights
The links below listing your rights are not European Commission pages and do not represent the view of the Commission:
- Rules on procedures concerning the exercising of the right to institutional care;
- Rules concerning standard and normative social care services;
- Act Concerning Social Care of Mentally and Physically Handicapped Persons;
- Health Care and Health Insurance Act.
European Commission publications and web pages:
Who do you need to contact?
In the case that you have decided on social care at home, you can submit the form for inclusion in services at the provider's office in writing, by telephone or in electronic format. More information can be obtained from the provider.
An application for receiving institutional care can be given personally or by post to the service provider or by email at the address: https://servis.ssz-slo.si/Prosnje/.
Health services, which are assured by compulsory health insurance on the basis of health activities (community nursing and home care services) can be accessed through your selected personal physician.
The form for exemption from payment for social care services can be submitted at your centre for social work, for which further information is available on the MSSDZ web site.