Issues of the institute’s social services commercialization for senior citizens in Russia

Abstract

Background. The article is devoted to the actual issue of the social sphere  commercialization in the structure of the institution of providing social services to senior citizens. The article examines pensioners as one of the fastest growing groups of consumers of social services in modern Russia, as a result of which it is their commercialization that allows us to meet the expanding range of needs of the third-age cohort. Materials and methods. The article presents the results of a qualitative study (interview) conducted by the authors in 2020–2021 in the city of Saratov and the region. The respondents were male and female recipients of social service centers for senior citizens, aged 67–83 years (N = 27), and the experts were three specialists in social work with the elderly working in the social service center. Results. Based on a qualitative methodology, the authors analyze the demand for paid services of the Institute of Social services from the elderly. The article examines the processes of development of the social service institution in the direction of its commercialization, the degree of readiness of older people to act as equal participants in the new system of relationships based on market principles. Conclusions. Paternalistic views on the role of the state in the field of social work, the lack of a critical assessment of the activities of state institutions, lack of interest in the development of alternative participants in the market of social services by older consumers are revealed. The prospects for the development of the institute’s social services in the direction of its further commercialization and the demand for a new sphere in its activities are also outlined.

Keywords

• elderly people
• commercialization of the social sphere
• institute of social services
• social services
• qualitative methods