Pomoc społeczna dla ludzi starszych w kontekście zasady subsydiarności
Social Assistance for Older People in the Context of the Principle of Subsidiarity

Summary/Abstract: The article aims to present various forms of support for seniors in the context of the principle of subsidiarity since the political transformation, especially from 2004 to the present. The study was developed using an institutional and legal method based mainly on examining documents such as legal acts and care programs for the elderly and selected statistical data from the Ministry of Family and Social Policy for 2001-2023. The article shows that the social assistance system shaped after 1990 regarding older people is based on the principle of subsidiarity, which involves transferring responsibility (including financial) for supporting older people to local governments. This rule is accompanied by other principles, mainly multi-sectoral support organization (public institutions - social organizations - local community - family) and deinstitutionalization, which contributes to developing various forms of community support for the elderly, in exchange for 24-hour support in nursing homes. The principles of care provision had a significant impact in the period just after Poland acceded to the EU when financial benefits for caregivers and senior activation programs were introduced, and then the period after 2015, when services for dependent people in local communities began to be developed more intensively than before with the joint involvement of the government, local governments, and the third sector.

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