[Priority needs of the older generation in social (digital) services.]

ABSTRACT

The social service approach for the elderly that emerged in the USSR in the late 1980s and was introduced within the framework of a federal law in 1995 was oriented towards care and service provision. However, various authors have noted that the needs of the elderly and the availability of services often do not coincide, and this gap is growing with the change of generations of the elderly. The modern approach, the founder of which was the Polish demographer E.Rosset, reflected in a number of international documents, prioritizes supporting employment and maintaining independence for the elderly for as long as possible. However, there is still little research clarifying the specific services needed by the elderly themselves. The aim of this article is to demonstrate that the needs and capabilities of the «older generation¼ are changing noticeably, and the existing approach to the provision of social services, which largely took shape in the 1990s, is outdated. Our research question is do the digital ecosystems (services) being developed by the Information and Analytical Center of St. Petersburg Government correspond to the needs of the elderly on the one hand, and the provisions enshrined in the Madrid Plan on the other? The study employed qualitative methods: an analysis of a pilot survey of users of the «Active Longevity¼ service and the opinions of participants in a focus group (age of informants 60-75 years) of elderly individuals conducted on 16.03.2024.