Management of residential homes for the elderly in Malta

Abstract

Elderly persons are among the most fragile in society. They can be in a state of dependency, whereby it can no longer be possible for them to live m their own home. They may therefore seek residential care. While staying in a residential home, the elderly must be offered the best possible services and must be encouraged to live their lives to the full if their health allows them to do so. Management plays a vital role in the provision of this care. This dissertation tries to find and explain differences between private and public sector management as regards to residential care, and how the we11-being of the residents is affected by such differences. To achieve such purpose, I visited three residential homes ; a Government home, a Church home and a private commercial home. This dissertation tries to address questions like : Is it vital if we have more Government, Church and private homes in the future? Are the residents having their physical and social needs met in residential homes? How are such homes managed? Should the Government privatise some of his residential homes? This dissertation ultimately examines whether institutional care is viable and favourable in today's world. After all, residential care for the elderly is not the only recipe for coping with the problems of an aging population.