Sociologický časopis / Czech Sociological Review 2012, 48(6): 1051-1074 | DOI: 10.13060/00380288.2012.48.6.02

The Social Exclusion of the Elderly: A Mixed-Methods Study in Slovenia

Maša Filipovič Hrast, Valentina Hlebec, Matic Kavčič
University of Ljubljana

The elderly are in many ways more vulnerable than other groups in society. To research the vulnerabilities of the elderly, this article works with the concept of social exclusion. It analyses social exclusion using a mixed-method model drawing on secondary quantitative data combined with in-depth interviews. The quantitative data were used to identify which areas of social exclusion particularly affect older people in Slovenia. The areas observed in the study were material deprivation, spatial exclusion, poor health and access to health care, housing exclusion and interpersonal exclusion, and the first threeareas were identifi ed as the most problematic and widespread. The strategies the elderly use to cope with social exclusion were analysed using qualitative data and the grounded theory approach. In all areas various coping strategies were observed that indicate that the elderly are actively trying to improve their situation. It also seems that similar strategies are employed in different areas of social exclusion, the most important of them being strategies based on individuals' capacities and social networks.

Keywords: social exclusion, mixed methods, coping strategies, secondarydata, the elderly, Slovenia

Published: December 1, 2012Show citation

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Filipovič Hrast, M., Hlebec, V., & Kavčič, M. (2012). The Social Exclusion of the Elderly: A Mixed-Methods Study in Slovenia. Sociologický časopis / Czech Sociological Review, 48(6), 1051-1074. doi: 10.13060/00380288.2012.48.6.02.
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