Social assistance to the elderly

Elderly and especially old people, due to their physiological characteristics, belong to a socially vulnerable group of the population and need the support of society. According to the legislation, the following social assistance for elderly people exists:

1. social assistance to elderly people at home, including social and medical services;
2. semi-stationary social assistance to elderly people in day (emergency) care departments of social service institutions;
3. stationary social services in stationary social services institutions (boarding homes, boarding houses and other social services institutions, regardless of their name);
4. urgent social assistance to elderly people for the purpose of providing one-time emergency assistance to those in dire need of social support;
5. social and advisory assistance aimed at the adaptation of elderly citizens and disabled people into society, the development of self-reliance, and facilitating adaptation to changing socio-economic conditions.

To implement these forms of social services, territorial centers have been created that identify elderly citizens in need of social support, determine the types of social services they need and ensure their provision, and maintain differentiated records of all those in need depending on the types and forms of assistance required.

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Social assistance to elderly people at home

Social assistance to elderly people at home is provided by social workers who offer their wards a wide range of services: home delivery of groceries from stores and markets; delivery of hot meals from canteens, humanitarian aid, essential goods and medicines; processing various utility and other payments, handing in things for repair. At the request of the ward, the social worker can contact a notary, draw up the necessary documents (including for placement in a nursing home), invite repairmen to repair the apartment or some equipment, call a doctor, etc. The main types of services at home are provided free of charge, some are paid for by the pensioner from the supplement to the pension for care. The main goal of social services at home is the adaptation of elderly people to their situation, the maximum possible extension of their stay in the usual social environment.

For the poor, the centers organize free hot charitable meals at the expense of local budgets, territorial funds for social support of the population, and other extra-budgetary allocations. They are provided with in-kind assistance in the form of food, clothing, footwear, and medicine.

The Centers create charity collection and distribution points for items, rental points for durable goods, organize discounted household services for low-income senior citizens in hairdressers, laundries, baths, and apartment repair services, and open stores where those in need can buy goods at a discount.

Day care departments

Another form of social assistance to the elderly is day care departments. Their goal is to help the elderly overcome loneliness. Here, meals, medical and social assistance to the elderly, recreation, cultural and educational events are organized. In such institutions, various types of feasible work are organized, where you can again feel useful and even earn extra money by sewing, handicrafts, and crafts. Clients of the day care department celebrate holidays and birthdays together - as a result, old age and loneliness no longer seem as sad as before. It is important that after rest in the day care department, the connections between the elderly are not interrupted.

Emergency social assistance to the elderly at social service centers is intended to provide emergency assistance of a one-time or temporary nature to elderly people who are in dire need of social support. It includes the provision of necessary information and consultations, legal and material assistance, emergency medical and psychological and repair and household assistance.

Nursing homes for the elderly and disabled

Boarding houses for the elderly and disabled, nursing homes and other inpatient institutions where elderly citizens who do not have able-bodied children who are obliged to support their parents are admitted. Patients who require constant medical care and psychiatric supervision or those who for various reasons cannot live with their relatives may be sent to institutions of this type.

Registration in a boarding house is handled by local social protection authorities depending on the place of registration or actual residence of the elderly or disabled person. When living in a boarding house, pensioners receive 25% of their pension, and the remaining funds are credited to the boarding house account, which assumes all material costs for the maintenance and care of elderly people. If there are vacancies in the boarding house, then the elderly and disabled can be accepted for temporary residence for a period of 2 to 6 months.

Residents of such houses receive comfortable housing with necessary furniture and inventory, bedding, clothing, footwear; they are provided with food, including dietary food. Patients are provided with dispensary observation and treatment, and if necessary, hospitalization. The administration organizes various cultural and mass events.

However, in residential institutions, social assistance for the elderly often increases dependence and a sense of loneliness among residents, bringing their death closer (up to 25% of residents die every year).