Специфика группы пожилых как объекта социальной политики

Abstract

The article is dedicated to examining the problems and risks arising from the need to refocus social policy from the exclusion to inclusion of elderly Russian citizens. The issue of reviewing the content and focus of social policy in relation to the elderly has become more pertinent given the steady trend of populations becoming older – a trend which no developed country has yet been able to break out of. In Russia, the problems that exist in all countries at the “deep population aging” stage are complicated by the particular characteristics of social wellbeing and quality of life of elderly people resulting from the cultural and social backdrop. The article notes that the range of problems affecting the condition of elderly Russians poses additional risks to the move towards an inclusive model for social policy. These include: the lack of a client-oriented attitude as an organizing principle in the healthcare system, the pervasive and persistent nature of negative stereotypes about aging, society’s attitude towards elderly people as outsiders, and the lack of a comprehensive and coherent system of sociopsycohological knowledge concerning elderly people. The authors focus their attention on the challenges facing the politicians, civil servants and experts involved in developing and implementing social policy, and the potential methods of finding solutions to these challenges. In particular, the topic of diversifying social policy regarding different age groups of elderly Russians is addressed. The authors propose a new approach to identify the top priorities and main focus of social policy in relation to the specific age groups it focuses on, based on a comprehensive analysis of empirical research data. The foundations of this article were results of empirical studies (2014–2016) carried out by the authors, as well as information from other domestic and foreign research and analysis of the normative legal foundation.