GERIATRIС DEVELOPMENT IN MODERN RUSSIA -A STEP AHEAD, TWO STEPS BACK

Abstract

The article is about the history and developmental trends of gerontology in modern Russia. It is well known that in the Russian Federation the number of elderly and old people is steadily increasing, therefore, state authorities take a number of measures aimed at maintaining the health of people of retirement age, increasing life expectancy: laws are passed, orders are issued, recommendations and standards are created. Doctors undergo professional re training and work as geriatricians in offices at polyclinics. Along with this, in 2016 the number of rates of geriatricians, and consequently, geriatric nurses was halved. Not so long ago, the concept of providing geriatric care to elderly and old people changed in our country: if, until 2016, a person 60 years of age or older with two or more chronic diseases in the stage of subor decompensation could contact a geriatrician, then at present, only patients with “senile” asthenia who have previously received an appointment with a local doctor or general practitioner can get to the geriatric clinic, despite the fact that more than 1.5 hours are required to determine this “condition” in a patient even without cognitive deficit. The term “senile” asthenia is not defined in the ICD-10 and cannot be interpreted unambiguously. Doctors of therapeutic specialties do not undergo thematic improvement in geriatrics. Medical students still do not even learn the basics of gerontology. At present, independent departments of gerontology and geriatrics are being closed or being reformed in those cities where geriatrics used to be actively developed (Yekaterinburg, St. Petersburg, Samara). Currently, in the provision of geriatric care to people of older age groups, a disagreement between the intentions of state authorities and the real actions of officials takes place.