Do we always honor the elderly?
The Outcasts
Russia ranks first in suicides among the elderlyZoya Svetova, Sergey Ishkov, Samara, Olga Kuznetsova, Vladimir, Konstantin Fomichev, Saratov
Novye IzvestiaAccording to the latest VTsIOM survey, 67% of Russians believe that the rights of the elderly are not respected in our state.
According to demographers, 25% of old people are suicidal. At the same time, almost half of our compatriots are not afraid of old age, and one in five does not even think about it at all. Correspondents of "NI" found out what problems lonely elderly people face. Many of them do not have enough money to somehow make ends meet, others suffer from the negligence and indifference of doctors, others lack simple human communication: after all, even many social workers who bring them food and medicines do not know how to communicate with pensioners at all and try to disappear as quickly as possible. In a word, elderly people are one of the most disadvantaged categories of citizens.
Last summer, an emergency happened in Novosibirsk: pensioner Igor Tsarev climbed the scaffolding of the repaired Museum of local lore, tied a rope to the rafters, put a noose around his neck, doused himself with gasoline, set himself on fire and rushed down. There were passers-by on the street, to whom Tsarev read his suicide note. The rope doused with gasoline broke, the pensioner fell to the ground, and he was taken to the hospital, where he died five days later. Albert Speransky, an expert of the Moscow Helsinki Group, who cites this case in the annual report on human rights violations for 2008, explains why Igor Tsarev decided to do such an act: "The authorities disowned this man."
Extra peopleThe aggravation of the pensioner always came when he calculated his poverty-stricken budget.
His pension was 3,700 rubles. Igor Tsarev sold his share in the apartment, bought a house in the town of Cherepanovo, rented it for 2500 rubles a month, but paid for utilities. He moved to the village, began to grow potatoes. When he went to get a subsidy, he was not given it because he rents an apartment. "Because of the official rudeness, the nerves of the old man could not stand it, and he decided on this terrible act of protest," Albert Speransky sums up. – In Novosibirsk, lonely pensioners tried to create a trade union to fight for survival. They called their organization "Les Miserables". But the trade union was not registered – it is not required by law: they say, there should be cells of the labor collective, and pensioners do not work."
Russia ranks first in the world in suicides among the elderly. Trying to survive on the pennies received from the state, they feel useless to anyone and sometimes decide to take a desperate step.
A resident of Samara, Alexey Maltsev, was found hanged in his own garage. The suicide of an elderly man was prompted by the act of his own grandson Yuri, who stole orders and medals from his grandfather. A pensioner from Tolyatti, Nikolai Petrov, took his own life at his dacha. Leaving a note to his son, who had not visited his father for several years, the old man dug a sharp stake into the ground under a tree and rushed at him from a height...
"Modern society does not need such ballast as we do," complains Samara pensioner Vladimir Medvedev. – The young do not want to remember that yesterday I worked hard for their good, they do not think that sooner or later they will also grow old. Society rejects us, young people hate us."
Lyudmila Serova, Deputy Director for Scientific Work at the Gerontology Research Institute, believes that lonely old people do not have enough money and the care of the state. "Elderly people do not have sufficient means of subsistence," she states in an interview with NI. – They can't buy a variety of products, they don't have money for vegetables, which are very necessary in old age. There is not enough care on the part of social protection agencies. All that lonely old people have the right to is to have a social worker visit them twice a week. But this is negligible."
Hot lunch twice a monthSocial service centers exist in all Russian cities.
Due to the financial crisis and rising unemployment, the profession of a social worker has recently become quite popular. "Previously, only pensioners worked for us," Ekaterina Semenova, who has been working as a social worker in the Northern District of Moscow for eight years, told NI. – People with higher education are welcome, and now middle-aged women with higher education have begun to get a job with us more and more often. There are 12 old ladies in my care now. That's one and a half bets. We are not allowed to take other wards, they say so that we can devote more time to each person. In total, 1300 people are attached to our center. We bring food at the request of our wards, twice a month we deliver a free hot lunch to those who wish. They are entitled to a free hairdresser. Once a year, those who have the most urgent need receive a grocery set, clothes."
Social workers pay for housing and communal services, go to the pharmacy for medicines. "But the main thing that my lonely old ladies need," adds Ekaterina, "is communication. They're waiting for me to talk. Young social workers, by the way, do not know how to talk to old people, they bring food and move on as soon as possible."
In all districts of Saratov, as well as in the capital, there are social service centers for the population. "We currently have 630 pensioners in our care, there are eight people per social worker, and he visits each of them two or three times a week," Tatiana Kondakova, director of such a center in the Frunzensky district of Saratov, told NI. – There is also a home service department. The most responsible workers are involved there, because most of the wards can no longer leave the house, many do not get up and require sanitary and hygienic care."
In Vladimir, where 100 thousand pensioners live, the center for social services for elderly and disabled citizens can help only one percent of representatives of these categories of citizens. The director of the center, Alexander Khodyrev, admitted to "NI" that social workers cannot serve more Vladimirites: there is not enough budget money. According to the press service of the Main Department of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Vladimir region, lonely elderly people often call the rescue service with a request to put them on a stretcher and hospitalize them in the hospital. There is no one else to do it.
Not treated, but crippledAnd yet the most difficult problem for lonely old people is their contact with our medicine.
Last week, the media wrote a lot about the egregious situation in the Kurgan region, where the chief doctor of one of the rural hospitals forbade the ambulance to go to the elderly to save on gasoline. As a result of such "savings", 64-year-old pensioner Nikolai Golovin died without waiting for medical help.
"It is not easy for an elderly lonely person in the hospital," says Olga Trubetskaya, a doctor at one of the Moscow polyclinics. – Especially if we are talking about chronic diseases – pneumonia, strokes. Then the problem of care becomes acute. And this is an almost hopeless situation. There are paid beds for five to six thousand a month. But lonely pensioners are not able to pay even such an amount."
The Research Institute of Gerontology provides paid services not from the "good life" – there is no opportunity to serve the elderly for free. "When we applied to the Moscow Department of Medical Services with a request to allocate budget beds, we were told that there are enough places for gerontological patients in Moscow hospitals. But this is not the case at all," Lyudmila Serova is sure.
Many people who face this in our hospitals talk about indifference and neglect towards the elderly. "The 85-year-old mother of our friend was taken to a military hospital. I was tormented by pain in my leg, it was difficult to walk. A few days later, she just fell ill there. She became much worse, and she was wasting away in front of our eyes, – told "NI" Muscovite Tatiana Bolotnikova. – When I visited her in the hospital, I noticed that the doctors made it clear to her and other old people that they did not need them. It even seemed to me that elderly patients there are given some psychotropic drugs so that they sleep better at night and do not disturb the staff. Our friend arrived, took her mother home, found her a nurse, and she put her on her feet. Now they are walking on the Patriarch's Ponds."
But the services of nurses are quite expensive, and not everyone can afford such a luxury. In the 60th metropolitan hospital, bedridden patients are taken for 1-2 months. Services cost 5100 rubles. In the therapeutic department of the correspondent of NI, they immediately warned that patients in an acute condition were not taken, and the staff urgently needed the help of relatives. "One nurse serves 25 patients, and she can't, for example, wash them, so come more often," a hospital employee told us by phone. It is clear that lonely old people in such conditions will be left to themselves.
"For those who do not have relatives, a nursing home often turns out to be a salvation," social worker Ekaterina Semenova notes in an interview with NI. – But not everyone wants to go there. A year ago, in order to get into such boarding schools, it was necessary to give an apartment to the state. Now they take old people without apartments – they just deduct 2800 rubles from the pension every month. But old people live in such boarding schools in triple rooms. And when our grandmothers watch reports on TV about what kind of nursing homes are in the West, they are in no hurry to go to our state-owned homes."
Recently, private nursing homes have begun to open in Moscow and the Moscow region. If you look at the photos posted on the Internet, you can imagine that the conditions there are like in two- or three-star hotels. There are few guests in such establishments – no more than 12 people. "Now we have free places," NI was assured in one of these boarding houses. – A single room costs 84 thousand rubles a month, a triple-quadruple room costs 66 thousand rubles." Quite wealthy people can afford such a luxury for their elderly parents. And what should lonely old people do if they don't want to go to a nursing home?
Free seal for two weeks"In our country, citizens do not know what exactly they can demand from the state," explains Alexander Saversky, president of the Patient Protection League, to NI.
– For example, in 2004 we had 10 million disabled people, in 2006 there were already 16 million, in 2009 the figure of 12 million suddenly appeared. Where did four million people go? It's very simple: getting free medicines is tied to disability. Old people rushed to get disabled. The Ministry of Health gave the go-ahead to tighten the requirements for disability. Grandma came to our organization. She has a bunch of chronic diseases, one eye sees nothing. She took a stick from a friend and went to a meeting of the ICEC (medical and Social Expert Commission). And there they say to her: show your hands, you don't have calluses on your hands from a stick. So, we will not give you a disability. She came to us to file a complaint with the court. But we explained to her: even if the court overturns the decision of the ICEC, she is still unlikely to be given a disability. We need a systemic healthcare reform that would also affect assistance to lonely old people. And now they are beating the thresholds of polyclinics to get a prescription, creating queues. Doctors are infuriated by this. But neither of them is to blame."
The elderly are remembered in our country once a year – on October 1, when the Day of the Elderly is celebrated. On this day in Samara, for example, the city and regional authorities proudly report: pensioners were able to remove and cure their teeth for free. Those of them who have reached dentistry receive a set of oral hygiene products as a gift... 59-year-old Svetlana Petrova, having courageously stood in line for several hours that day, put a seal on a tooth that had been hurting for a long time for free. Two weeks passed, and the filling fell out, destroying half of the tooth. Now a woman is being charged one and a half thousand rubles for restoration. When asked why the seal and the doctor's work turned out to be of poor quality, the doctors shrug their shoulders: "So for free, what do you want?"
In Israel, elderly people are assigned "nannies"
More than 31 thousand Filipino workers live in Israel, most of whom work in companies that serve the elderly and sick people. And more as nannies than foster brothers and sisters.
Pensioner Nina Grigoryevna Shelest is 79 years old. Now she lives alone in a two-room apartment, which she received from the city social services. The woman moved from Moscow to her son in Israel six years ago and lived with his family in a large five-room apartment for the first four years. Back in Moscow, Nina Grigoryevna broke her hip neck, there was no complete recovery due to her advanced age, and here in Israel, a "metapelet" (translated from Hebrew – "nanny") was attached to her, which became a 30-year-old Filipina Rosie. Pensioner Shelest cannot be called a completely helpless old woman, so the medical commission has identified a "nanny" to help her only for five hours a day. Rosie goes to the grocery store, to the pharmacy for medicines, cooks breakfasts and lunches, washes her things, helps to take a shower. In good weather, Nina Grigoryevna does not miss the opportunity to take a walk in the fresh air. And again, not without Rosie's help.
The services of Metapelet are paid for by the National Insurance Service (SNS), and in some cases by the health insurance fund, in which every Israeli is a member. In 1986, the law on the care of the elderly and those who are recognized as disabled came into force in Israel. Its financing and execution is entrusted to the SNA. The law grants the elderly the right to visit the Day-care Center closest to their place of residence, to install an emergency call device in the house, as well as to supply disposable hygiene items. The Day Care Center provides three meals a day (breakfast, afternoon tea and lunch), hygienic and medical procedures (physiotherapy and occupational therapy). After lunch, people are taken home.
In addition, men over 65 and women over 60 are entitled to receive a monthly allowance of 80% of the cost of these services instead of state-paid care. There are many organizations competing in the field of elderly care services. Of course, not only Filipinos work as nannies, but also guest workers from countries such as Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Brazil and South Korea.
It is not uncommon for bedridden patients to require round-the-clock care of nurses. If the apartment conditions allow, then the "metapelet" moves to such patients and occupies a separate room. There are also touching stories: many young Filipinos become so close to the men they take care of that they receive marriage proposals from them. This phenomenon became widespread, and the Israeli Foreign Ministry even demanded "a ban on the entry into Israel of foreign workers who have romantic ties with Israelis." But the court found the demands illegal.
No "nanny" (or "nanny") will be able to start performing her duties without a license, which she can get only by passing the exam for the position of foster sister or brother. Residential care for the elderly is one of the priorities of the social policy of the Jewish State. In 2001, 1.7% of the country's population were elderly people in need of residential care. Seven years later, the number of such citizens increased by another 2%. Specialists of various profiles are trained to care for the elderly – nurses, social and foster workers, gerontologists. The State spends about 0.5% of its national income on long-term non-stationary care for elderly citizens. Thus, every elderly person in need of care can receive state assistance.
Valentin Boynik, JerusalemChicago old men call an ambulance at the push of a buttonAfter World War II ended, there was a boom in the birth rate in the United States.
Now most of the representatives of this new generation, nicknamed "Baby Boomers", are over 60 years old. According to the Federal Census Bureau, there are 78.2 million such "babies" in the States. They are taken care of by the federal service "Administration of the Elderly" and similar services in each state. They provide financial support to charities and private firms that help the elderly. In Chicago, for example, there is a Catholic organization for the elderly, which employs thousands of women. They provide various services to the elderly every day or once a week – they clean their apartments, do laundry, cook lunches, breakfasts and dinners, buy them groceries. "The duties of our employees also include accompanying elderly people to doctors, and in emergency cases – calling ambulances. They even take their patients to cinemas and concerts," Vera Orlova, a consultant at the Catholic organization, told NI. "Our units are located in all districts of the city."
Most elderly people need medical care. Each of them, upon reaching the age of 65 (and in case of disability – even before that age), receives medical insurance and discounts when buying medicines in accordance with the federal program. For elderly people with low income, there is a special free medical insurance "Medicaid". Refusal to admit elderly people to hospitals, and especially in emergency situations, is considered a criminal offense.
Modern technology has also come to the aid of the elderly and lonely. People can press just one button on a special small device, and they are immediately connected to the ambulance service. Those suffering from memory loss certainly wear bracelets with a tiny electronic mechanism that helps the police find people who have forgotten the way to home. This bracelet has been worn for two years by my friend's wife, who suffers from this terrible disease.
Boris Vinokur, Chicago
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru
26.10.2009