pseudo-social services, unregistered services, unlicensed services, hidden services, the Act on Social Services

This qualitative study focuses on providers of the so-called pseudo-social services to seniors in the Czech Republic who provide services, without proper registration, to elderly people dependent on the care of others. The aim of the research conducted through semi-structured interviews was to find out reasons leading the providers of these services to not being registered and to find out their opinions on that practice with an emphasis on the quality of the provided services. The data showed that the providers of pseudo-social services see their activity to be necessary and beneficial, especially to the seniors themselves and their family members. They often believe that they are able to meet the seniors' requirements better than the registered providers of social services thus providing better quality services. It is apparent from the research results that the providers of pseudo-social services offer their services to meet the public demand without which their "business" would disappear.