Nurgul Bektay 

ID210103213 Friday-06N

THE ROLE OF GERONTOLOGY AND GERIATRICS IN THE LIVES OF THE ELDERLY

This article reveals the importance of gerontology and geriatrics in the lives of elderly people. The
characteristic of gerontology and geriatrics is given. The differences between them are considered.
Special attention is paid to the development of the system of gerontology and geriatric care in
Russia. In conclusion, the author of the article concluded that geriatric care for elderly citizens is
slowly developing, encountering problems on the way that need to be solved.

Gerontology and geriatrics has been an urgent topic for many years. Its relevance is associated with
an increase in the life expectancy of older people.

An increase in the absolute number of persons of older age groups objectively leads to an increase in
the number of citizens experiencing difficulties with solving medical, social and psychological
problems..

In addition, the incidence of the elderly (61-75 years) is 2 times higher, senile (76-90 years and older)
is 6 times higher than in the category of people of working age. The need for various types of
geriatric, psychological, social and professional rehabilitation assistance is extremely high. Urgent
issues are the creation of an appropriate organization of medical and social assistance and other
types of assistance aimed at the elderly. The specific problems of the elderly in the country are the
loss of their former social status, poverty, general deterioration of health, decreased ability to work,
loneliness..

However, as practice shows, traditional general principles of care for elderly patients remain,
specialized geriatric approaches to care for such patients are not actually applied.

In turn, it is necessary to focus on the fact that in the implementation of various areas of work,
medical personnel play an important role in hospital gerontological institutions. The main specialists
in gerontological centers should be geriatric doctors (therapists), in gerontopsychiatric centers -
gerontopsychiatric doctors.

At all times, humanity has been interested in issues related to aging and old age, including increasing
life expectancy and maintaining its quality in old age. In recent decades, this interest has been
expressed in the progressive development of the science of aging, gerontology and its medical
component - geriatrics, which is often positioned as clinical gerontology.

Sometimes gerontology is confused with geriatrics, but this is a narrow branch dedicated to the
prevention and treatment of diseases in the elderly.

Until the 19th century, when most people died before reaching old age, there was no special need
for doctors specializing in the care of the elderly: deterioration of health was considered an
inevitable accompaniment of old age.

Today's geriatrics is aimed at prolonging and improving the quality of life of elderly and senile
people, preserving and maintaining functional capabilities and maximum human autonomy.

Governments of developed countries have already understood and appreciated the importance of
gerontology, including geriatrics. By allocating significant funds for its development, the state seeks
to adjust its demographic policy and increase life expectancy.
At the same time, gerontology is the science of aging, which includes three components of
gerontology: basic or theoretical gerontology; social gerontology; clinical gerontology or geriatrics.
Geriatrics is a discipline dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment of diseases in the elderly and
representatives of groups of accelerated aging (early, premature, pathological).

At the same time, gerontologists believe that aging is a specific disease and an irreversible process
that is universal for all living beings, genetically determined by them, and their speed and quality,
first of all, have a great impact on a person's lifestyle (level of physical activity, nutrition, stress
resistance, etc.).

This suggests that against the background of the increasing aging process of the population, it is
necessary to treat the elderly differently and improve gerontological care.

Thus, gerontology implies a scientific understanding of the aging processes that occur
simultaneously at several levels: biological, physical, psychological and social.

At the same time, psychologists believe that the ultimate goal of gerontology is to provide a person
with the opportunity to live to a physiological old age, to preserve to some extent the ability to
work, social and social activity, the need to be useful to others, in other words, the strategic goal of
gerontology is to achieve active and creative longevity.

The main goal is to increase the healthy life expectancy to 67 years.

The implementation of the regional project "The Older generation" assumes the achievement of the
level of hospitalization for gerontological beds of persons over 60 years of age per 10 thousand of
the population of the corresponding age.

So, based on all of the above, we will draw the following conclusion.

Despite the clear progress made in providing medical care to the elderly, there are still a number of
problems that need to be addressed. Firstly, currently the geriatric service in our country is still not
fully represented. Secondly, there is no single relationship between health and social protection
institutions to provide assistance to elderly citizens. Thirdly, the regulatory framework, the
procedure for providing medical care in the "geriatrics" profile, and the standards of medical care for
certain diseases characteristic of patients over 60 years of age have not been fully worked out.
Fourth, geriatric care is not available enough due to the lack of geriatric departments and offices.

We understand that the creation of an effective system of geriatric care is impossible without the
attention of civil society to the problems of the elderly. Therefore, public organizations providing
medical and social assistance to the elderly should be open to the public, ready to participate in
various forms of care for the elderly, welcome and encourage the activities of volunteers and non-
profit organizations.

Also, maximum support should be provided for the creation of a favorable living infrastructure and
psychological environment for elderly people with disabilities and their recovery, if possible.
List of literature:

1.Analytical report on the implementation of the national project "Demography" on the territory of
the Ulyanovsk region - [Electronic resource].URL:
2.https://sobes73.ru/assets/files/natproj/information...dek_feb_2020.docx (accessed: 12.09.2022).
Gerontology is... Social and clinical gerontology - [Electronic resource].URL: SYL.ru :
3.https://www.syl.ru/article/306132/gerontologiya-eto-sotsialnaya-i-klinicheskaya-gerontologiya
(accessed: 12.09.2022).