The main barriers to the social integration of older people

Abstract

The article analyzes the main barriers to the social integration of older people. The relevance of the chosen research topic is determined by the existing need to address many issues related to the increase in the proportion of older people, which leads to the transformation of the socio-demographic structure. It should also be taken into account that today old age is not only physiology, but also a combination of psychological, social, socio-cultural and other factors. However, not all of them have a positive effect on the social integration of older people. The problem of social exclusion after retirement comes to the fore, the search for the meaning of one's existence is more acute, there is a feeling of uselessness by society, which leads to depression and loneliness. In addition, there is the problem of society's perception of the elderly person himself. Often he is not positioned as an equal participant, as a social unit, and his social potential is not used. To eliminate these problems, it is necessary to understand the process of social integration, namely, what social barriers prevent positive changes in the life of an elderly person, exclude the possibility of benefiting society and being an active participant in it. Based on sociological surveys, it was revealed that socio-psychological (depression, loneliness, misunderstanding with relatives, etc.) have a greater influence on social integration; socio-economic (the level of material income; exposure to fluctuations in the market economy; the impact of external adverse factors; shortcomings in the pension system; lack of preferences from the state, lack of work in rural areas, etc.); labor (reduction of pensioners in the workplace; poor organization of the system of pre- and retirement employment); social and medical (unavailability of medical care and its low quality, understaffing of polyclinics and hospitals with the necessary specialists, constant increase in prices for medical services and medicines, etc.); socio-cultural (a small number of non-profit public organizations for the elderly, poor organization of leisure, etc.); ageist stereotypes (negative experience of communication with the elderly, self-stereotyping, estimation of values in society, etc.).