SILVER VOLUNTEERING AS A FORM OF SOCIAL ADAPTATION OF ELDERLY PEOPLE
Ryabtseva A.V., Karahanova E.P
(Belgorod State National Research University, Belgorod)
Annotation: The article is devoted to the study of the problem of social adaptation of older citizens in society through involvement in volunteer movement. The paper reveals the concept of "silver volunteering", analyzes the existing experience of participation of silver volunteers in social life, trends in the development of the silver volunteerism movement in the Russian Federation.
Key words: elderly people, social adaptation, volunteering, volunteer movement
Demographic indicators presented by Rosstat indicate that over the past 11 years, the number of elderly people in the Russian Federation has increased by 4.2% [1].At the same time, according to the Russian Public Opinion Research Center, 67% of Russians believe that the rights of older citizens are not respected in the country [2]. This, as a result, leads to difficult adaptation of citizens of retirement age in society.
Nowadays the directions of the state social policy focused on solving the problems that older people face when adapting to society are becom more and more relevant.
One of the innovative forms of work to solve the problems of adaptation of elderly people to retirement is to involve them in volunteer activities. This form of work is called "silver volunteering".
Silver Volunteerism is a volunteer movement that includes older people with rich life and professional experience, preserved life potential, and an active civic position [4].
The inclusion of people in volunteer activities is conditioned by certain individual and social nesessitys:
the necessity for communication and the desire to be socially useful to other people;
the necessity for new knowledge and, consequently, for new social roles;
the necessity to apply professional and everyday experience (young pensioners);
the necessity to influence and participate in social changes, the desire to realize themselves, their initiatives (civil activists, older people with higher education, specialists in the humanities);
the necessity for meaningful leisure and entertainment[5,13].
In order to join the ranks of silver volunteers, citizens who have reached the age of 55-60 years must apply to the Comprehensive Social Service Center of the population at their place of residence and receive free training [4].
Motivation for joining volunteer organizations is carried out exclusively in non-financial ways, since the goal of creating the movement of "silver volunteers" is to help older people in successful social adaptation at this stage of life. To encourage people to join the organization, various trainings are conducted to develop personal and motivational qualities, trust, communication skills, and group cohesion. Most people decide to join the ranks of the "silver volunteers" if the organizer manages to meet at least three basic social necessity of elderly citizens: the necessity for achievements; the necessity for belonging; the necessity to exert influence [5, 15].
Currently, the movement of "silver volunteers" is one of the most developed in large cities in Russia, such as Moscow, St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Sochi, and Perm.
For example, a resource center "Mosvolonter" was created, in Moscow which carries out its activities under the Committee of Public Relations of the City of Moscow and provides comprehensive assistance to the active development of the movement "silver volunteerism". The center promotes the involvement of older people in socially useful activities and provides an opportunity for active interaction between the younger and older generations.
All representatives of the older generation share their life experience with young people and at the same time receive modern and up-to-date information from young people, acquire skills of a modern language of communication. For silver volunteers, training programs are being developed with the involvement of experienced trainers and moderators (for example, the project "Grandmother-blogger" –a series of educational master classes on how to work in the Internet space of older people), trainings of communication and team building, master classes, and the practice of joint leisure activities.
The center also hosts the Silver Age University, where older citizens can study. The basic training programs here are the programs "Transition age", "Become a volunteer, or New opportunities", "5 steps to volunteering".
In addition, older people can improve their literacy in the legal and economic fields, attend classes in various types of art therapy, English, etc.
"Silver Volunteers" take part in major urban, sports and social events in their city and in their country.
For example, 1,500 silver-age volunteers participated in the organization of the Olympic Games in Sochi. Older people acted as interpreters, accompanied athletes and guests, worked with journalists, etc.
In addition to sports, volunteering, expert volunteering is a popular type of volunteer activity among older people, since these people have a huge practical experience in their sphere (politics, journalism, pedagogy, etc.).
Currently, various forums are held annually in Russia, bringing together people of the same social group on any issues. The elderly are no exception. The first All-Russian Forum of Silver Volunteers was held in Yekaterinburg from 28 to 29 April 2016. The venue of this event brought together 250 silver volunteers from all over the country aged from 50 to 80 years. The program of the forum included educational seminars and panel discussions on various topics. The key issue was the issue of obtaining funds for the implementation of their ideas. Participants were also able to get acquainted with the success stories of joint projects of volunteers of different ages. The forum resulted in a roadmap developed by participants and experts for the development of silver volunteerism in Russia.
One of the expected events for the silver volunteers is the FIFA World Cup, which will be held on the territory of the RF from June 14 to July 15, 2018 at 12 stadiums in 11 cities of Russia: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Saransk, Kaliningrad, Volgograd, Yekaterinburg, Samara, Sochi and Rostov - on-Don. It is planned that the silver volunteers will take an active part in the preparation of the World Cup along with their young colleagues. The volunteers will work in the fan zones at the stadiums and help foreign fans. For all elderly citizens who want to take part in the 2018 World Cup, meetings are held at the bases of regional Integrated social service centers, where pensioners are helped to register on the website in an organized manner and become part of the 2018 World Cup volunteer team.
As a result, it can be noted that the inclusion of older people in volunteer activities is one of the promising mechanisms for achieving successful adaptation of older people in society. At this stage of development, it can be noted that "silver volunteerism" is actively developing in the Russian Federation today. The development and implementation of programs related to volunteer activities is one of the priorities in the organization of work with the elderly.
LITERATURE:
1. Federal State Statistics Service Access mode: http://www.gks.ru/free_doc/new_site/population/generation/dem1.xlsx
2. All-Russian Center for Public Opinion Research " Elderly Russia: how do 30 million citizens live?» Access mode: http://wciom.ru/fileadmin/file/reports_conferences/2009/2009-09-29-pojilaya_Rossia.pdf
3. Practical recommendations to a psychologist when working with the elderly Access mode: http://studbooks.net/594283/sotsiologiya/prakticheskie_rekomendatsii_psihologu_rabote_pozhilymi_lyudmi
4. Silver volunteering in Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug Ugra Access mode: http://kcsonmiloserdie.ru/docs/listovka.pdf
5. Arsenyeva, T. N. Serebryanye volontery [The Silver volunteers] / T. N. Arsenyeva, Tver: Printing company "Pechatnya", 2016. 60s. Access mode: http://xn 80ae4d.xn p1ai/media/documents/%D0%A1%D0%B5%D1%80%D1%8F%D0%B1%D1%80%D1%8F%D0%BD%D0%BD%D1%8B%D0%B5.pdf
