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MARINA VALERYEVNA KORNILOVAа
аRussian Academy of Sciences
DOI: 10.22394/2070-8378-2020-22-4-65-72
Abstract:
The article examines the work of the “Moscow Longevity” state project/program. The analysis is carried through on the assessments given by the elderly residents of Moscow, as well as specialists from social welfare institutions responsible for the implementation of the program. The program is newly established and has been working in Moscow for over two years. The author names 4 stages for the implementation of the program: preparatory, trial, main, and “special” stages. This staging is based on the existing legal acts regulating the implementation of the project, as well as on the analysis of sociological research. The primary sources of data are: interviews conducted by the author with elderly residents of Moscow regarding the “Moscow Longevity” program (April-May 2020); surveys and focus groups conducted by the author during her work at the Moscow Institute of Additional Professional Training of Social Workers (2016-2017). The article examines statistics and publications in the mass media concerning the success of the “Moscow Longevity” project. Elderly Muscovites and employees of social organizations highly appreciated the ongoing activities, noting their relevance and timeliness, both for involving senior citizens in an active lifestyle and for adapting the elderly to a new period of life “for themselves”. Participants of the program take computer courses, study foreign languages, attend dance lessons, go to sports classes, develop artistic and aesthetic skills, master tourism, and visit cultural sites in Moscow. However, the program also has significant drawbacks, eliminating which requires significant material and technical resources as well as personnel work. Each year the participants voiced the same problems associated with the poor condition of the premises and the lack of an individual approach to activities’ organization. The “special” stage related to the situation with the coronavirus pandemic revealed a lack of computer skills among the program participants (despite the conducted computer classes) and inability to quickly adapt to new conditions.
Keywords:
Moscow longevity, elderly Muscovites, adaptation, social activity, social security, the older generation, isolation
Received:
July 1, 2020
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