Social and Psychological Support of Elderly People in the Conditions of Full-Scale War

Abstract

The article examines the features of providing socio-psychological support to the elderly in the conditions of martial law in Ukraine. The analysis of the leading scientific research in the field of gerontology and psychology was carried out, the physiological and socio-psychological features of the elderly as a separate age category were determined, and the main needs of the elderly were revealed. The article also presents the results of a practical study implemented in the form of a survey of workers in the social and psychological sphere. The results of the survey determine the main personal changes in the elderly, which are revealed by social workers and psychologists in the course of their professional interaction with them; provide a list of the main directions of work on the provision of social and psychological support. Attention is focused on special needs and forms of their satisfaction that arise on the basis of military operations. The purpose of the article is to reveal the features of providing socio-psychological support to the elderly in the conditions of martial law in order to preserve social health as a whole and facilitate the process of experiencing a personal and social crisis by the elderly. The main tasks are as follows: to analyze the bases of scientific research on the problem of aging, to determine personal and physiological changes in representatives of this age group; update the problem taking into account the specifics of wartime; to determine the main features of providing socio-psychological support to the elderly in war conditions. Theoretical, empirical and statistical methods of data collection and processing were used to achieve the goal and solve the research problems. In the conclusions, the main results of the study are summarized, it is stated that timely and high-quality provision of socio-psychological support to the elderly contributes to the formation of a healthy society by reducing the percentage of socially passive, dependent population, and the prosperity of the state, which is extremely important in the conditions of war and post-war reconstruction. The novelty of the research lies in the determination of current areas of social and psychological support based on the study of the needs of the elderly in war conditions. The practical significance of the research results lies in the possibility of their use in the process of drawing up a program of social support for the elderly in the conditions of modern society.