The aim of this research study is to reflect historical development and analyse changes in the provision and funding of social services in Slovakia in the legislative framework -including a comparison of Act No. 195/1998 Coll. On social assistance and Act No. 448/2008 Coll. On social services. The qualitative research study analyses the impacts of the decentralization and transformation of social services on the basis of the practical experiences of the directors of non-public social services centres provided by church organisations. The total sample consisted of 41 managers working in social services. Data collection was completed at the end of 2019, and we used open coding, comparison, and categorization to reflect the development of social services. The results showed a rapid decrease in the number of low threshold social services and daily care centres for seniors. They also showed an increased number of elderly and vulnerable people over a 20-year period. The law amendments made impact on the transformation and the modernisation of social services and the creation of new forms of institutional care services, including home care -which is much preferred due to the higher unemployment level of people over 50 who become home-care givers. The typology of clients has changed from "walkers" to seniors with IV.-V. degree of dependence on the long-term care. Home care has been replaced by residential care for the elderly. There is a huge need for the combination of social and health care in social care centres -including medical staff, care givers and social workers.

Aim: The study analyses the relationship between health habits, social status, sex life and the level of awareness of maternity among Roma women younger than 18 years. The aim was focused on getting to know the reasons for unplanned pregnancies. Methods: The data were collected by structured interviews of the sample (21 young pregnant Roma women) from March to May 2017. Results: The research revealed different healthcare problems connected with abortion, early pregnancy and preterm birth. These are related to the lack of access to appropriate family planning and sexual education, active sexual lives before the respondents were 15 years old and the specific lifestyles of Roma girls. Discussion and conclusions:The question is not simply why Roma woman in Plavecký Štvrtok get pregnant so early. We also must focus on the other factors, such as the lack of proper education and the way in which they are separated from the rest of society at their segregated schools. Roma in this community usually drop out of school at fifteen. Therefore they think that their adult life begins then.

Introduction: Anti-vaccination campaigns have been broadened with a strong negative impact on the parental refusal of vaccination despite of the fact that fatal diseases had been greatly reduced thanks to mandatory vaccination programmes valid in Slovakia. Methods: We used the questionnaire implemented by the Slovak public health institution to collect meaningful data, analysing the attitudes of 875 mothers of two-years old kids towards vaccination and the impacts of their emotional beliefs on decision-making. Results: The results showed the correlation between attitudes to vaccination and variables such as age (p = 0.136), parenting (p = 0.037), regional district (p = 0.326), emotional backgrounds (p = 0.043) and life experiences (p = 0.015). The emotions have a significant impact on decision-making about vaccination in the first step and on the rational conclusion to get a child vaccinated (p = 0.025). Discussion: In the sample of 875 women, the refusal of vaccination was found to reflect multiple factors, including family background, perceptions about healthy lifestyle and aspects of the natural immune system of children, awareness of risks of the diseases; perceived disadvantages of vaccines; its adverse effects compared to the efficacy, and negative experience with vaccination in the family or social environment in relation to the emotional effects. Conclusions: Most of the parents call for non-mandatory vaccination and they are convinced that vaccination should be at everyone's free choice. On the other hand it can bring great chaos to the vaccination system, break preventive strategies and collective immunity, and may spread many old and new serious diseases into the population.

Trnavská univerzita v Trnave, Fakulta zdravotníctva a sociálnej práce Summary The volunteer (unpaid) work and opportunity to perform it in the society is considered as an unavoidable assumption and also standard of democracy. It can also play an important role in forming the system of values for young people. It offers the young people with experience and skill, which are later useful in their professional life, supports their cooperation and communication skills and acts as the opposite to the style of life solely aimed at the consumption. The authors present results of observations of Slovak volunteers engaged in long-term European volunteer services in EU countries. The target of the research was to establish the motivation of volunteers, needs and barriers in the volunteer work. We also studied types of volunteers and advantages of performing the volunteer work in abroad. The sample group included 172 volunteers participating in projects of the European volunteer service in 2010 for periods of one year and above. The quantitative examination was implemented in the spring 2010. The method of the data accumulation was based on a questionnaire prepared by the authors for research purposes. The results demonstrate differences in the volunteer motivation between man and women and in considerations of the importance of volunteer activities depending on the education, the respondents perceived the volunteer activities as more important with increasing degree of their education. We demonstrated no considerable differences between types of volunteers in preferences of particular types of volunteer programmes. The most considerable barriers in the inclusion into the European volunteer programme were insufficient preparedness of the programme in particular cases and poor communication between participating organizations. The respondents particularly consider the benefits of the European volunteer programme in the self-development and professional growth, in the development of the responsibility and independence and development of language knowledge and social skills. The volunteers were most frequently engaged in work with handicapped adults (homeless people, unemployed people, victims of violence, seniors) within projects focused on environmental and cultural problems.

Cele: Celem badania była prezentacja rozwoju historycznego oraz analiza zmian w świadczeniach socjalnych na Słowacji realizowanych w ramach zabezpieczenia społecznego, pomocy społecznej oraz usług społecznych.Metody: W badaniach posłużono się techniką wywiadu. Przeprowadzono rozmowy z dyrektorami niepublicznych placówek pomocy społecznej, których organizatorami są instytucje kościelne. Badana grupa składała się z 41 kierowników ośrodków opieki, a zebranie danych odbyło się pod koniec 2019 roku. Na podstawie zgromadzonych danych dokonany analizy rozwoju usług społecznych. W części ilościowej badania wykorzystano chi-test do prześledzenia zmian rodzajów świadczonych usług, liczby placówek oraz uregulowań prawnych.Wyniki: Wyniki badań pozwoliły ujawnić zmiany w usługach społecznych, które dokonały się pod wpływem nowelizacji prawa socjalnego. Rezultatem tych zmian jest szybki spadek liczby niskoprogowych usług socjalnych, ośrodków opieki dziennej dla seniorów oraz wzrost liczby osób wykluczonych i starszych w okresie 10 lat poprzedzających badanie.Wnioski: Transformacja usług socjalnych zmieniła formę tego typu świadczeń. Rozwój ten nie doprowadził jednak do harmonizacji opieki zdrowotnej i społecznej na Słowacji w celu zaspokojenia potrzeby trwałej opieki długoterminowej dla osób starszych i niesamodzielnych.