printActive Old Age of Women in Russian Nursing Homes
Popov Е.А.
Dr. Sci. (Philos.), Prof., Head of the Department of General Sociology, Altai State University, Barnaul, Russia рopov.еug@yandex.ru
Popov Е.А. Active Old Age of Women in Russian Nursing Homes. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. 2022. No 5. P. 139-144
The problem of social adaptation and reassessment by women of the social adaptation problems and re-evaluation of the values of women in nursing homes needs scientific research. This problem is not only existential in nature, associated with feelings of finiteness for being and life. It is also connected to the social aspects of human individual and collective life activity. In this article, the emphasis is made on identifying various forms of women’s active old age permanently residing in Russian nursing homes. According to statistics, women are predominant residents of these institutions in the Russian reality. This affects the formation of the social climate in nursing homes, but also impacts the values of people. The “female face” of nursing homes in Russia, however, does not at all indicate a poor social climate in such institutions and passive pessimistic moods. The main conclusions are made basing on the results of an empirical study, which involved a total of 42 people from two regions of Russia – the Altai Republic and the Altai Territory. The article considers the concept of a nursing home. At the same time, the perception of a nursing home by elderly women is analyzed, who constantly compare it with their native homes. The article shows that over time, residents of such homes begin to see their native home in the nursing home itself, endow it with certain qualities for this (“warm house”, “my house”, “cozy house” and others). The article also reveals values helping residents of nursing homes to maintain a positive attitude and look into the future. Main values of this kind include women’s communication with each other and social activity. It is activity as a factor of socialization and the change of existential reflection (awareness of the finiteness for life) to the social (certain life prospects based on the interaction of a person and society) that is considered in the article as a key element of the active old age concept.
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