homelessness, psychological needs, education, social workers

High demands are placed on social workers in shelters in relation to the mental state of theiroccupiers, which often do not care correspond with the social workers´ education. Research question:What educational demands are placed on social workers in relation to mental state of the occupiers ofshelters? The aim of the research is to map and analyze the mental health of the occupiers of shelters andthe resulting demands on the education of social workers. The contribution is based on the qualitativeresearch with the occupiers of shelters in four regions in the Czech Republic. The research was attendedby 30 communication partners, out of these 13 women from shelters. The research was carried out in theform of semi-structured interviews and subsequent analysis using the constructivist grounded theory of K.Charmaz. The results of the survey point to the often poor mental state of the occupiers of shelters andtheir specific needs in the field of social counselling, psychological care, psychotherapy or crisisinterventions that are perceived in the context of accumulation of roles. Assistance to people in the fieldof mental health in shelters is often considered insufficient. The solution seems to be a combination ofseveral options: the first is the supervision, the second is the extension of the education of social workersin the field of psychological disciplines, and the third is the cooperation with external experts.