scholarly journals Re-imagining Russia’s Social Care System in the Age of the Internet: the Gerontological NGO Dobroe Delo, the Madrid Plan, and the Rights of the Elderly

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 155-168
Author(s):  
Jane Harris

Jane Gary Harris – Professor emerita, Department of Slavic Languages, Literatures and Cultures, and MSW in Gerontology, University of Pittsburgh, USA. Email: [email protected] enced significant challenges and changes. This paper explores the rationale behind those challenges and the agency behind the changes. In doing so it raises several questions: it asks what role NGOs, and more specifically, Gerontological NGOs, played in advocating for and bringing about change, where and how they may or should be credited with helping to re-imagine a modern aging policy for the Russian Federation, and what implications this may have for aging policy priorities in the present and imminent future? It proposes that the incipient Gerontological NGO sector was instrumental in re-imagining a modern social care system for older persons – the basis for a modern comprehensive aging policy: by, among other things, utilizing the internet in the social sphere to advocate for the principles and recommendations of the United Nations model Madrid Plan; by advocating for the rights of the elderly; by calling for integrated social and medical care; and by linking gerontological research and aging policy. An inquiry into the nature of the influence of these NGOs on aging policy priorities required a micro-level examination of the particularly influential Gerontological NGO Dobroe Delo, suggesting its seminal role in unifying an inchoate Gerontological NGO sector, while simultaneously transforming the basic paradigm of aging policy to focus on the 'Rights of the Elderly.' In addition, this paper proposes that such research is critical to understanding how Russia’s aging policy has been re-imagined over the past decade and a half while asking what policy issues yet remain to confront future demographic demands.

2021 ◽  
pp. 1050-1059
Author(s):  
И. Л. Сизова ◽  
Н. С. Орлова

В статье рассматриваются социальные процессы, сопровождающие реализацию политики «активного долголетия» в российской социальнотрудовой сфере. В первом разделе статьи кратко представляются основы концепции «активного долголетия» и обсуждаются возможные социальные механизмы ее применения. Особое место здесь отводится анализу социальных прав, которые формируют основу для разных моделей развития общественного благосостояния и качества жизни населения. Во втором разделе на базе парадигмы конструктивизма в социальных науках и теории символической власти П. Бурдьё предлагается авторский вариант изучения структур восприятия и оценивания населением реализованных государственных реформ. В третьем разделе представлены результаты эмпирического анализа серии полуструктурированных интервью с основными субъектами социально-трудовой сферы и текстов обращений граждан в органы государственной власти. В заключение интерпретируется символическая борьба вокруг восприятия политики «активного долголетия» в России. Авторы приходят к выводу о том, что ожидается новый всплеск программ социальной помощи пожилым и рост пассивности в их трудовом поведении. The article examines the social processes accompanying implementation of the policy «active aging» in the Russian social and labor spheres. The basic concepts of «active aging» are briefl y introduced and possible social mechanisms of its application are discussed in the first section of the article. Special importance is given to the analysis of social rights which form the basis for different models of the development of public welfare and the population’s quality of life. In the second section, author’s version of studying the perception and assessment structures by the population of the implemented reforms of the State are proposed on the basis of the paradigm of constructivism in the social sciences and the theory of symbolic power by P. Bourdieu. In the third section the results of an empirical analysis of a set of semi-structured interviews with the main subjects of the social and labor spheres and the texts of citizens’ appeals to government bodies are presented. In conclusion, the symbolic struggle around the perception of the «active aging» policy in Russia is interpreted. The authors conclude that a new surge in social assistance programs for the elderly and an increase in passivity in their work behavior are expected.


2018 ◽  
Vol 159 (8) ◽  
pp. 312-319
Author(s):  
Anett Mária Tróbert ◽  
Zsuzsanna Széman

Abstract: According to statistical data, the number of healthy life years is not increasing in proportion with the longer average life expectancy. In the ageing societies, the long-term care systems are increasingly overburdened; cost-efficient operation and the related coordination of services is one of the key questions for their sustainability. The present separation of the health care and social care systems causes numerous difficulties. One aim of the online research by questionnaire was to survey the attitude of general practitioners – who play a very important part in care for the elderly – towards their elder patients, the patients’ family members, and social workers providing eldercare. The other aim was to gather information on shortcomings experienced by doctors in the care system and on what possibilities general practitioners see for the improvement of eldercare. Semi-structured questionnaires were applied and analysed by descriptive and content methodology. The questionnaires were sent out to 5060 addresses around the country: a total of 145 were returned filled in. The respondents made many recommendations for the improvement of eldercare in the categories of development of social services, family support, development of health services, and societal cooperation. The areas in need of development named by the general practitioners are closely interrelated: the reform of social care would support the health care system and vice versa. More effective operation of the health and social care systems would ease the burdens of families, and at the same time encourage more active participation of families in the care process. And the systematic education of society and communities is a long-term investment that would strengthen a positive attitude towards old age and a value-oriented view of the ageing process that is one of the basic conditions for successful social integration of the elderly. Orv Hetil. 2018; 159(8): 312–319.


Author(s):  
Cheng-Chang Liu ◽  
Chang-Franw Lee ◽  
Tung Chang ◽  
Jing-Jing Liao

The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between caregivers’ stress loads and dementia patient behavior, including the correlation of “patient behavior” (severity and frequency), “social care system”, and “stress levels of caregivers”. The research method was based on the analysis of survey data collected at a dementia specialist outpatient clinic of a medical center in southern Taiwan from November 2013 to May 2015. Those surveyed by the center included patients who visited the hospital, and their caregivers completed a questionnaire survey. During the study period, a total of 558 questionnaires for 279 pairs were distributed, and all questionnaires were recovered. According to the survey statistics, the average age of the caregivers interviewed was 53.1 years; women accounted for 61.3% of respondents, and the duration of care exceeded three years. In terms of education, most respondents were college/university graduates. The most common surveyed relationship was that of children acting as the caregiver to a parent, and the average age of the patients was 77.73 years. Most caregivers were found to live with the patients (75.3%). In terms of severity and frequency, the surveyed items with the highest average scores were both the “delusion” item of the “patient behavior” facet, the “mental support”(mean = 1.97; standard deviation, SD = 0.869) item of the “social care system” facet, and the “social life stress” (mean = 2.26, SD = 1.510) item of the “Stress levels of caregivers” facet. The research results show that the “patient behavior” and “Stress levels of caregivers” facets have a significant positive correlation, and the “social care system” and “Stress levels of caregivers” facets have a significant negative correlation. In the future, priority of service planning and implementation of long–term policy should be given to home care, since this is a cultural characteristic of Taiwan. In circumstances where a primary caregiver takes care of family members, the patient’s behavior, length of care, mental support, and social life issues are key items that should be considered in the social welfare control service to alleviate the load of dementia patients on family caregivers.


2021 ◽  
Vol 03 (05) ◽  
pp. 01-10
Author(s):  
Mohammed BOURICHE ◽  
Linda Latifa BENMOHRA

Social service is one of the humanitarian professions, and an important topic, which carries in its folds, handling of many aspects, including, the elderly category and the reality of their livelihood in social care institutions and centers. This phenomenon has emerged in several societies, including the Algerian society. Through this study, we will try to know the role of social service in caring for the elderly residing in social shelters, or what is known as the home for elderly persons, in addition to identify the skills provided by social service owners for the elderly in the care center, and the reality of their life in these centers as well as most of the methods used by social service In helping the elderly, so that the forms were posed as follows: How can the social service play its effective role in caring for the elderly? What are the methods and methods used? From the aforementioned, it must be pointed out that any study cannot be scientific except on the basis of a specific and clear methodological method in order to complete the research. We have relied in our study on two important aspects, one that includes the origins and definitions, principles and characteristics, as well as the theories of social service The second part dealt with the field study, as well as presenting and analyzing the findings


2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (7) ◽  
pp. 366-366
Author(s):  
Melissa McAlees

It has been clear for some time now that the social care system is failing. A recent report by Age UK sheds more light on this and points out regional differences in care provision.


2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (6) ◽  
pp. 832-848 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kylie Meyer

Cities across England will see a growing number of informal carers as the population ages, many of whom do not begin this role equipped with the knowledge they need to access social care services and supports. One of the more significant changes brought by passage of the Care Act of 2014 is local governments’ increased responsibility to improve the provision of information and advice on social care to informal carers, long recognized as a policy priority. To better understand where improvements can be made on a local level in order to achieve the goals laid out in the Care Act, this study considers carers’ experiences accessing information and advice on social care services and supports in a city with a population of over 250,000 in the south of England. This was done through the collection of semi-structure qualitative interviews with 11 carers to people aged 65 and older from April 2015 to July 2015. Thematic analysis of interviews revealed a tension between carers’ varying levels of knowledge and experience with the social care system and information services’ one-size-fits-all approach to providing information. Findings suggest local governments should focus on creating information services that more actively reach out to carers, provide greater guidance to those carers who need it, and work to flexibly meet informal carers information needs, acknowledging that some carers will be less familiar than others with aspects of the social care system.


2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (11) ◽  
pp. 564-567
Author(s):  
Helen Dempster
Keyword(s):  

Wielogłos ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 137-154
Author(s):  
Agnieszka Urbańczyk

Beautiful Birthday Wishes, and Song, and Melody. Sincerity and Kitsch in Creative Activity of the Elderly on the Internet in the Context of Pierre Bourdieu’s Theory of Distinction The subject of this article is the Internet activity and creativity of the elderly, understood as a form of radical sincerity. While the most popular take on the digital divide emphasizes lack of Internet access or technological competences, this paper focuses on the exclusion of the elderly users from the legitimate discourse of the Internet. The author uses Pierre Bourdieu’s notion of distinction to discuss the role of distance and irony in the establishment of legitimate taste and its similarity to the irony-laden meme culture. The online meme discourse is contrasted with a particular form of creativity of the elderly, who do not only refuse to create an online persona but whose art is the perfect exemplification of Bourdieuian “working-class aesthetics.” The images – considered tawdry by the gatekeepers of legitimate taste – are a result of emulation of analog artifacts (such as postcards and greeting cards) in the new media. Their popularity among the elderly Internet users is caused by a non-selective transposition of offline relationships onto one’s activity in the social media.


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