As follows from a joint study by the world Bank and the International red cross, the bulk of care for older citizens, despite the existence of a developed social security system rests on the shoulders of their relatives. Most often they have to compensate for government services in the area of psychological support, rehabilitation and round-the-clock care. To reduce the amount of informal help — of course, if this task will be put,— the government of the Russian Federation will need to integrate into a unified medical and social assistance system for elderly, both social and medical services for this age group.The increase in the number of older citizens will require building separate systems of health and social care — as long as the most features for the care of people over 65 years of age perform their relatives, captures the joint study group of experts from the world Bank and the International red cross. The basis of the work amounted to data of the Russian monitoring of economic situation and population health at the HSE, as well as surveys of the elderly population in three regions of Russia — Karelia, North Ossetia and in the Oryol region.According to the study, is now 4,8% of the total adult population of the Russian Federation and 18.5% of older people with disabilities in need of medical and sanitary procedures of the house. In the future their number will grow due to the increase in life expectancy, and due to the growth in the proportion of persons with disabilities in all age categories. Now up to 70% of the required amount of assistance given to them by their relatives and only 30% are public or private social service and health care workers. If yourself need in most cases perceive this situation as normal and see professional help only as a replacement for the missing from relatives. The most difficult, according to the study, the state system to offer the elderly the social and psychological support, rehabilitation and preventive services and round-the-clock care for bedridden patients.But the development of systems of care for the elderly involves not only increasing resources for social services, say the authors of the study, although it is obvious that they need as new staff and new capacity. Effective support of Russians older than 65 years must equally be based also on a reorientation of their needs of medical services, since the demand for emergency and outpatient care with age growing. In comparison with a person of working age, older people aged 75 years and older calls for an ambulance on average, eight times more; at the age of 65-74 years — four times more often; and the elderly 65 years — twice as often. Environmentsand the working-age population 7.5% of doctor’s office visits once a month or more often. By the age of 65, this percentage increases to 25.5% and in the age group 75 years and older it reaches 29.9 per cent. If among people of working age for three months before the study were hospitalized and 2.9%, among persons 65 to 74 years and over 75 years, these figures were 8.1% and 9.7% respectively.Anastasia Manuylova
