Social Services, Population Aging, Market, Registered Social Services, Unregistered Social Services, the Act on Social Services, seniors

This qualitative study focuses on unregistered services provided to the target group of seniors in the Czech Republic. The aim of the research carried out through semi-structured interviews was to identify the reasons leading the seniors, or their family members, to make use of services that are not properly registered in accordance with the current legislation (Act no. 108/2006 Sb. on Social Services). A partial goal was to discover the reasons for not using the registered social services. The data showed that the main reason for not using duly registered social services is their current unavailability in difficult social situations (primarily associated with the worse health condition of the seniors or the persons taking care of them) that the seniors are unable to deal with using their networks of social relations. Another reason is the insufficient time availability of the registered providers of social services, e.g. at night or at weekends. The research showed that the existing social services are not fully capable to meet the current needs of the seniors and their families.