Bulgarians rank the blame for the cases with illegal nursing homes as follows: the relevant institutions are clearly the most guilty, with serious fault being the owners and managers of such homes, and further back, with equal responsibility, are the legislators and relatives. Lesser, although significant, is the fault of everyone who knew, including the employees in such homes. Two out of five claim that they had heard of similar treatment in homes even before the revelations. Between twenty and thirty percent prefer that elderly people in serious situations be in institutions with special care. Of course, the majorities speak out in favor of care at home. Naturally, the older a person is, the more clearly expressed the preference for the home environment.
The findings are from a quick independent telephone survey by the new sociological agency “Measure“, founded by the team of Parvan Simeonov. The survey aims to build quick hypotheses on the topic related to homes for the elderly, which has become a hot topic in the public space.
Regarding the case of illegal homes for the elderly, respondents had the opportunity to give more than one answer. 79.4% of those surveyed in the thematic survey find fault with the institutions responsible for controlling these issues, 64.7% blame the owners and management of such homes. 40.9% blame the people who adopted the laws on these issues. 40.4% indicate that the relatives who left the elderly in such homes are to blame. According to 35.7%, people who knew but kept quiet were to blame. For 29.4%, the employees in such homes were to blame. 3.5% believed that the elderly themselves, who probably agreed, were to blame. There were also some hesitations.
Asked, as far as possible, to exclude media publications and news from recent weeks, 39.2% said that they had heard of poor treatment of elderly people in residential homes. Regardless of the declarative nature of the answers inherent in such cases, these nearly forty percent, or two-fifths, indicate a considerable recognition of the problem - although not in the majority.
It is striking that the home environment receives automatic support, even when special care is needed. To the question “When a person is elderly and needs someone else to take care of them – for food, medication and other needs – which of the following is better, in your personal opinion?“ 69.4 percent say that it is better for a person to stay at home, regardless of the possible difficulties, 22.8% are of the opinion that it is better for a person to receive care in a specialized facility, regardless of the fact that the connection with home is difficult. The rest find it difficult to indicate an answer. In these data, it should be taken into account that the topic is very delicate, as well as a significant percentage of socially desirable or automated answers should be taken into account. There are serious differences in the answers of the youngest and oldest participants in the survey. Over three-quarters of respondents aged seventy and over are of the opinion that it is best for a person to stay at home, regardless of the possible difficulties, while less than half of the youngest share a similar opinion.
The data recorded by an experimental and provocative question – “If you personally find yourself in a situation where you cannot take care of yourself, which of the following is closer to your attitude?“. 64.1% respond that they would prefer to stay at home rather than in a specialized facility, while 29.5% do not want to stay at home, and may accept a specialized facility. The rest hesitate in answering. It should be borne in mind that these answers could be greatly influenced by specific life situations, as well as the remoteness of the prospect of aging. For example, nearly three-quarters of the youngest indicate that if they were in a similar situation, they would not want to stay at home and would accept a specialized institution, while less than one-tenth of the oldest would choose this option.
Despite all the reservations, it is clear that according to both indicators, although abstract, the possible niche for this type of social services is in the range between 20 and 30% of the adult population. The issue acquires particular importance given the demographic situation in our country.
Research report
The data are from an independent telephone survey by the sociological agency “Myara“, conducted between June 12 and 16, 2025 among 800 adult Bulgarian citizens. The maximum standard deviation is ±3.5 at 50% shares. 1% of the sample equals about 54,000 people.