Tatarstan prepares Golden Years project for elderly citizens

Tatarstan is trying to create an active leisure time organisation system for the elderly and expand ways of their social communications. For these purposes, the republic’s Ministry of Labour developed a project Golden Years scheduled to be implemented in 2023-2025. Read more in Realnoe Vremya’s report.

Active leisure time for those who reached “golden years”

The project of the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Protection of Tatarstan jointly with other agencies, including the Ministry of Health Care, Ministry of Digital Development, Ministry of Sport and Ministry of Culture is planned to be implemented on a regular basis. It is designed for women above 55 years and men above 60 years as well as premature insurance pension recipients due to an old age or long-service regardless of their age who permanently live in the region.

The main objective of the project is to create an active leisure time organisation system for the elderly, expand ways of social communications, improve their life activity on a regular basis in Tatarstan. It is also to help increase the population’s life expectancy.

The project has six tasks. In particular, to create conditions to provide elderly citizens with a decent lifestyle regardless of their gender, sex, health and ability to care about themselves, create an equally distributed chain of establishments working with them and popularise a healthy lifestyle.

Tatarstan residents will apply to the republic’s Ministry of Labour to join the group to attend classes, while the ministry will pick the most suitable classes for them and admit them. Members of the project will not only be notified about the schedule, place and time of classes but also the replacement of a person giving these classes to them and the reasons of such events.

If a drunk person will attend a class or will drink an alcoholic drink at the place where classes are given, he or she will be excluded from the group. The same decision will be made if they don’t follow internal rules or will repeatedly miss classes for no reason.

Memory School, 78 million for Care super service and assistance with employment for pensioners

The Tatarstan Ministry of Labour also developed a road map for the Golden Years project. These and many others events are planned to be funded by the republican budget. A list of organisations involved in the project is going to be made for the year and agreements on their participations in the events are going to be signed too.

The second group of events is aimed raise the awareness of Tatarstan residents about the project. This also includes the development of Care super service where Tatarstan will invest a total of 78 million rubles during three years, of which 33 will be invested this year, 25 million — next year, 20 million — in 2025.

The next section is designed to create conditions for organising and holding events within the project. It envisages the expansion of a network of clubs, classes for the elderly in culture, sport, their operation in 45 social support centres for the population as well as creating public spaces for elderly Tatarstan residents, including a Health Path.

The fourth group of measures aims to increase the quality of life among elderly citizens. It is planned to organise tours to Tatarstan’s natural landmarks as well as clubs at museums, in libraries, culture centres to keep their creative activity and save their cognitive health. Health institutions of the republic will offer training at Health Schools for them.

In 2023-2025, a Safety School technology is planned to develop in the republic as part of the organisation of visits of lonely citizens above 80 years and older at their place. This year it is due to cover 5,000 Tatarstan residents, 5,500 next year and 6,000 in 2025.

Also, during the next three years, Tatarstan intends to use social technologies replacing in-patient care when working with elderly citizens and people with disabilities who don’t need supervision. Their goal is to create conditions for an active long life. Care School is set up for this purpose, this year it will cover 300 people and 420 in 2025, Memory School is created 40 Tatarstan residents will attend in 2023 and 100 in the next two years. Rehabilitation equipment rent points will operate too.

The fifth part contains measures aimed to raise the literacy and income of elderly citizens. There are two in total — professional training, including additional training, for citizens above 50 and at the pre-pension age as part of Demography national project and assistance with pensioners’ employment.

The sixth part is one of the biggest: its measures will develop active leisure time for elderly Tatarstan residents. It is sports, health strengthening, recreational events for recipients of social services in social service institutions, events honouring spouses who have lived a long life together, a republican chess and checks tournament, Our Regional Masters contest. 225,000 elderly residents of the republic are going to be involved in sports events this year and 226,000 during the next two years.

The republic wants to engage the older generation in the work on labour, religious and moral, patriotic education of youngsters. Groups of lecturers are intended to be created with the help of active veterans in Tatarstan to work with young people.

The penultimate, seventh section includes measures designed to improve the creative potential of the older generation of Tatarstan residents. In 2023, 25 cultural and leisure events will be held for them, twice more are expected next year — 50 and 75 in 2025. More than 500 people will take part in them.

Elderly Tatarstan residents will also be involved in socially important projects conserving the heritage of Tatarstan ethnicities and engaged in the Veterans — Guardians of National Cultures and Traditions of the Peoples of the Republic of Tatarstan republican folk art contest among veterans. Shining regional festival of amateur veteran artists is also scheduled.

The eight part contains just one event — the development of Silver Volunteering. A thousand people are expected to be attracted to it this year, 1,100 in 2024 and 1,200 in 2025.