Cultural and leisure activities as a tool for improving the system of social work with elderly citizens: successful regional practices

Sedykh Ol'ga Gennadevna PhD in Economics Docent, the department of Sociology and Psychology, Baikal State University 664003, Russia, Irkutskaya oblast', g. Irkutsk, ul. Lenina, 11, of. 2-111 sedyholga@yandex.ru Other publications by this author     Zimina Ekaterina Viktorovna PhD in Sociology Associate Professor, Head of the Department of Sociology and Psychology, Baikal State University 664003, Russia, Irkutskaya oblast', g. Irkutsk, ul. Lenina, 11, of. 2-111 ZiminaEV@bgu.ru

Osipova Nadezhda Ivanovna Director, Grigory Shelekhov Local Community Charitable Foundation 664034, Russia, Irkutskaya oblast', g. Shelekhov, ul. 8 Kvartal, 16 a, of. 206 shelcf@mail.ru

According to the Federal State Statistics Service, the number of residents of Russia over 65 years of age is more than 13%, which indicates that our country belongs to states with a large proportion of elderly citizens. The aging process of the population is taking place in our country many times faster than in other countries. Only by the end of 2010, the share of pensioners increased several times. Many of these pensioners are the generation of children of the war and children who were born after it. State statistics predict that closer to 2040, the percentage of the older generation will increase from 13% to 20%. A similar situation awaits many States in the near future. But still, according to NASA research, by 2050 the percentage of elderly citizens around the world will grow to 22%. To a large extent, this will affect European states, and as for Russia, by that time the ratio of people of "silver" age will remain relatively low when compared with Europe.

Such a demographic problem in society will lead to changes in the redistribution of resources between representatives of different generations, since the elderly need provision and maintenance, and the number of able-bodied population is declining. These processes influence the economic, political and cultural strategies of the development of society in the XXI century. The human potential embodied in the stock of knowledge, skills, intelligence and creativity becomes a key resource that determines the standard of living of the population and competitiveness in the global market.

Numerous gerontological studies have refuted the stereotypical model of an elderly person and the retirement period. More recently, the elderly period was presented as a life of inevitability and uselessness, in which there is a place for the obligatory deterioration of health and functional condition, as well as a reduction in social ties and activity in general. To date, Russia does not have a comprehensive program to improve the quality of life of senior citizens. There are more people of this age category, but there is no clarity on how to live on their existing pension and what to do with this "retirement period". It is difficult to live on retirement, not all social services are available. There should be no "unnecessary" people or people "with an expiration date" in society. How can you not include people in a socially active environment who have rich life and professional experience, the desire to continue working and be needed? An effective program for the adaptation of a person to retirement should be developed, which will be aimed at changing the model of a modern elderly person, attitude to him and his life. It is worth noting that support for the socio-cultural development of senior citizens is not sufficiently developed.

Based on the data of state statistics, it can be concluded that a large number of elderly citizens live in cities. The largest percentage falls on large cities with a population of up to 1 million. human. Rural areas and villages account for slightly more than 30% ^[1]. And, as you know, the size of the settlement where an elderly citizen lives has a huge impact on the nature of the organization of cultural and leisure activities for the elderly.

The research results prove that cultural and leisure activities for the elderly audience are more focused on the wellness process, or family vacation. At this age, they pay great attention to health and its strengthening. Having a family, grandchildren and friends also has a positive effect on the lives of older people, which helps them to maintain their communication skills ^{[2, p. 14]}. Moving to a new stage in his life, an elderly person is afraid of losing his independence and habitual material prosperity. And becoming unnecessary and losing respect is his main fear at all ^{[3, p. 146; 4, p. 266]}. Thus, it becomes clear that cultural and leisure activities for the elderly are mainly focused on the wellness process or on family holidays. The following researchers have made a significant contribution to the study of problems in social work and leisure activities of elderly citizens: E. I. Kholostova, N. F. Dementieva, E. Yu. Shatalova, N. E. Pokrovskaya, I. A. Grigorieva, E. A. Tsatsura, T. E. Lifanova and others ^[5-7].

In general, it can be noted that state authorities have created an effective system to meet the needs of elderly people in urgent vital services ^{[8, p. 10; 9, p. 164]}. However, it should be noted that in legislative and regulatory documents the emphasis is more on the fact that an elderly person is functionally incapacitated. The legislator believes that at this age their needs become minimal, despite the fact that in practice it happens that the desires, opportunities and aspirations of older people are not always sharply limited ^[10]. Support is considered only in the form of basic social services, and the organization of cultural and leisure activities that would help older people realize themselves and adapt is completely ignored ^[11-13]. There are no options for implementing the model of a "modern elderly person" and their desire to maintain their social activity in society is ignored. The issue of the aging of the Russian population, although it is among the acute problems, but, at the same time, the issues of leisure activities of this category of citizens are not widely considered.

Research focus and methods

The questionnaire survey was sampled using the solid array method, i.e. those elderly citizens who were engaged in projects of the G. Shelekhov Charitable Foundation in the direction of "Cultural and leisure activities" at the time of the study were interviewed ^[14].

A questionnaire survey was conducted among elderly citizens participating in the projects: "Silver Dancing", "Creative Morning" and Silver Fitness: online & offline" (participants of face—to-face classes). A total of 40 respondents took part in the survey. For the study, deterministic sampling (non-probability sampling) was used – a sample in which elements fall on the basis of predetermined preferences or judgments. The type of deterministic sampling was a deliberate (judgmental sampling) type of sampling, which is based on the manual selection of those elements that, in the opinion of the researcher, meet the objectives of the study. The study was conducted during the active phase of the pandemic situation from November to December 2020, in this regard, the sample included those respondents who, to the extent of their health, participated in the project activities in person. The SPSS software product was used as a tool for conducting statistical analysis.

The purpose of the study is to study successful practices for working with the elderly in the direction of leisure activities, the introduction of these practices into the activities of the organization, improving the areas of social work with elderly citizens.

Hypothesis: cultural and leisure activities, which have a huge baggage of forms and methods of cultural development of personality and socializing influence on it, are able to improve the life of elderly people, stimulate their intellectual and physical activity, develop creative abilities, contribute to the effective process of adaptation in the modern world.

From the point of view of sociology, leisure is an activity in the field of work, everyday life or recreation that brings physical and psychological peace. For the purposes of our research, a symbiosis of these two definitions is suitable, therefore, we conclude that leisure is an activity independent of work, aimed at satisfying aesthetic, communicative, physical, cognitive and other types of needs. Needs are a resource that is constantly forgotten, but it is one of the important components of a full, active life of any person, regardless of age. If a person gets older, then the needs do not disappear anywhere. With retirement, a person's life activity changes. Active life is replaced by passive life, and the social circle is changing, since not everyone continues to maintain communication with the usual social environment after retirement. At the same time, the amount of free time increases, requiring filling it with something useful and meaningful to continue a full life.

The presence of a sudden appearance of a large amount of time opens up all horizons for new hobbies or forgotten old interests and self-development in general. Rational organization of free time is a search for ways to realize interests, requests, desires, their desire to enjoy life, to be useful and necessary ^{[15, p. 149]}. I. A. Grigorieva in her research on social security and leisure activities of older people notes that the methodology and methodology of studying leisure activities follows from the fact that leisure is an activity organized in free time, when anyone has the right to use it at his personal choice and discretion. But at the same time, she draws attention to the fact that the time on which a person's readiness for socially useful work depends, to fulfill his civil, social, moral, family, professional and other obligations. This means that it cannot be free from social evaluation ^{[16, p. 26]}.

Competently organized leisure activities help to improve the mental health of an elderly person: improves mood, calms him, awakens confidence and significance, and also gives a sense of satisfaction with life ^{[15, p. 149]}. Currently, the leisure sector in our country is changing with the emergence of new practices. Recently, such a science as heragogy has been actively developing, which is aimed at educating, educating, accompanying and assisting older people at the stage of post-professional activity with a view to their subsequent development."

Often, the motives when choosing cultural and leisure activities for older citizens may be: employment with the same leisure during childhood or youth, the opportunity to try something new, exchange existing experience, or simply fill their free time. In other situations, the reason for the choice is the desire to feel needed and useful to society, not to be a burden for it ^[17].

Consequently, it can be concluded that cultural and leisure activities are one of the few tools that can fulfill the task of social involvement and the formation of a sense of relative youth in older people, their need in society and usefulness in general.

Results and discussions

When processing the results of the questionnaire survey, it turned out that 100% of the surveyed elderly citizens who participated in the study believe that cultural and leisure activities are necessary for them. This suggests that all participants initially focus on adaptation to an active socio-cultural life.

When answering the question (several possible answers were assumed): "What benefits does participation in the project bring you?" we found out that 95% of respondents attend classes for health promotion, 90% — for communication, 65% want to learn something new, 12.5% of respondents answered that they would just like to occupy themselves with something.

The answer to the question "Which project are you a participant in?" is shown in Figure 1. The survey data indicate that older citizens are more engaged in dancing and fitness.

Fig. 1. Distribution of answers to the question: "Which project are you a participant in?"

To the question: "What kind of leisure do you prefer?" the answers were distributed as follows: reading — 50%, needlework — 52.5%, dancing — 65%, fitness or OFP — 45%, Nordic walking — 32.5% and to an open question, elderly citizens answered that they prefer: drawing, flower care, skiing, watching TV — 2.5% (see Fig. 2).

Figure 2. Distribution of answers to the question: "What kind of leisure do you prefer?"

The results obtained indicate that elderly citizens devote most of their free time to maintaining their physical health — dancing, fitness and Nordic walking. Also, a fairly large percentage of respondents are engaged in needlework and reading in their free time. We were also interested to find out the age of the participants and where they live in order to further understand who belongs to which age group and how far from the foundation they live.

The study involved respondents of the following age categories: 75% elderly citizens aged 56 to 65 years inclusive. A small part of the total number are citizens aged 66 to 75 years. And quite a few of those under 55 and over 75 — 2.5% each. According to the results of the survey, it was revealed that 85% of respondents are residents of the city of Shelekhov, and the remaining 15% are rural residents. It is expected that urban respondents are better informed about events and projects held in the city. And it is also easier for them to get to the Foundation, unlike rural residents, since they are either "tied" to the bus schedule, or must have their own transport.

When answering the question: "Are you satisfied with the degree of diversity of projects being implemented for the elderly," 70% replied that they were satisfied with everything. 30% used the answer "other" and wrote that they were also satisfied with everything, but they also wanted to gather together more often at thematic events, as it was before the COVID-19 pandemic, and suggested considering organizing Nordic walking classes.

The answers to the question about the form of participation of respondents in the project ""Silver Fitness: online & offline are presented in Table 1.

Table 1 – Distribution of answers to the question: "If you are a participant of the project "Silver Fitness: online & offline", what forms of classes do you use?"

The data in Table 1 show that there are still those among the respondents who are more interested at the moment only in the online format of classes — 27%. Quite a few, but they are there, those who combine face—to-face classes with watching video tutorials - 15%. The remaining 20% of respondents prefer only classes in the gym.

Then the respondents noted whether they know how to use a smartphone or a computer. The majority of respondents answered this question that they know how to use a smartphone and a computer — 67.5%; 20% know how to use only a smartphone, and 10% only a computer. And only 2.5% do not know how to use a computer and a phone. It follows from this that it is possible to introduce new technologies using modern gadgets, and for beginners to conduct introductory lectures and practices on their use.

So, in the course of the conducted sociological research, it can be concluded that a significant part of elderly citizens continue to attend classes and combine this with watching video tutorials. Most are satisfied with the organization of cultural and leisure activities in the Foundation, but still feel longing for additional thematic events that were held earlier. Some of the beneficiaries would not mind if a new direction appeared — Scandinavian walking.

Organization of leisure activities for elderly citizens: the experience of the regions

To implement projects for the elderly in the Shelekhovsky district, the G. Shelekhov Charitable Foundation reviewed successful practices of organizing cultural and leisure activities for senior citizens of other regions.

The starting point was the programs of the GBF "Samara Province". It was this foundation that first presented the experience of working with the elderly, namely the "University of the Elderly". The program was proposed by older people, and later developed into a large-scale project, which later appeared in St. Petersburg.

The foundation has a program "Silver Age", the purpose of which is to promote the creation of conditions for solving the problems of elderly people. This program includes: "University of the Elderly", "Silver Age" Forum. At the initiative of the Samara Gubernia State Budgetary Fund, the work of the charity program "Alliance of NGOs "Silver Age" (with the support of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation) began. The organization has a website that contains all relevant information. The Silver Age Alliance is an informal network association of organizations working as territorial resource centers to support the older generation with a common understanding of processes, a well—thought-out program, and common technologies. The activity is based on the technologies of local community foundations. It consists of twenty-one regions of the Russian Federation.

Since 2020, in cooperation with the Charitable Foundation of Elena and Gennady Timchenko, the activities of the Coalition "Care is near" have begun. The Care Near Coalition is Russia's largest association of NGOs and local communities involved in caring for the elderly.

Another example of successful work with older people were practitioners from the city of Penza, the Charity Foundation "Civil Union". Thanks to the implemented programs, older people have the opportunity to participate in public life and joint creative activities with representatives of other generations.

To date, projects for the elderly are being actively implemented on the territory of the city of St. Petersburg, by the Charitable Foundation "Good City of Petersburg". The following programs are conducted: "A city for all ages", "Active generation", "Seniors". These programs are for people who show alternative life options in retirement, who do not wait for changes, but act themselves: they continue to live an active life, implement social projects, form a community around themselves, show civic activism — they change the life of the city at their level and create a space open to all ages.

Practices of social work with older people in a Charitable foundation named after G. Shelekhov

The Grigory Shelekhov Charitable Foundation in the Irkutsk Region has been operating since 2005. During this time, events were held for different target groups and ages. Until 2015, there were no projects aimed specifically at senior citizens. But, before the implementation of the first project for the elderly — "Silver Dances", a charity event "Warmth as a gift" was held, which showed that older people want to be at the center of public life, be useful and gain new knowledge.

In 2017, a Resource center for non-profit organizations, initiative groups and citizens of the Shelekhovsky district "Center of Attraction" was created with the funds of a grant from the Presidential Grants Fund. In this center, work is carried out on organizing and holding events, including for older citizens, which helps the beneficiaries to join an active lifestyle and maintain their social ties.

Since December 2015, at the request and initiative of the members of the club "Trans-Baikal community", the project "Silver Dances" has been launched. The initiative citizens were pushed to this idea by a similar project from the Amur region "Amur Pensioners", who danced en masse on the central square of the city. The first classes were held in a rented room (until September 2018). The purpose of the Silver Dances project is to promote the creation of conditions for solving the problems of elderly people, active communication, inclusion of the elderly in an active social life through dance classes. Since 2016, more than 150 people have passed through the project.

The age of the participants ranges from 57 to 84 years. In addition to dancing, the participants of the project get new emotions, make friends and overcome their fears. It is worth noting that during the period of restrictions due to the danger of the spread of coronavirus infection, the charity suspended activities, including projects for senior citizens, from April to September 2020. It was during this period of time that the project "Silver Fitness: online & offline" was created. At the time of the idea of the project itself, it was supposed to attract new and old beneficiaries who, for the following reasons, cannot participate in existing projects: physical activity is not suitable; there are diseases that interfere with exercise; this project is not suitable for interest.

But, since at that time people who had fallen ill with coronavirus infection were already identified on the territory of the Shelekhovsky district of the Irkutsk region, new restrictions were introduced and, most importantly, the elderly beneficiaries of the Fund themselves began to suffer from self—isolation both physically and emotionally.  Therefore, the main goal of the project "Silver Fitness: online & offline" was to create comfortable and safe conditions for organizing cultural and leisure activities for a vulnerable group of citizens — the elderly, through the resumption of existing projects and the organization of new projects, including using online technologies.

The goal of the project "Silver Fitness: online & offline" is to maintain the physical health of senior citizens through fitness classes. Both face-to-face classes and video tutorials are held. During the implementation of the project, 16 video tutorials were filmed, edited and published. They are available on the Stepik platform only after registration on it and upon admission to the course "Silver Fitness: online & offline". The number of project participants has increased from 7 to 143 since 2020. According to the Stepik platform, as of January 2022, 143 participants were registered on the course.

From July 1, 2021 to May 1, 2022, the Shelekhov Charitable Foundation, together with the Shelekhovskaya Central Inter-Settlement Library, implemented the project "Tourism is conquered for all ages", the purpose of which is to organize leisure activities for the elderly, as well as people with disabilities, through cultural and educational tourism. Over the past period of implementation, three field events were held, with more than 130 people participating. Currently, the second part of the project is being implemented — a demonstration of a film shot in 360° format, which can be viewed using virtual reality helmets. In the spring, new project participants will also be able to go on the planned two field trips to famous places in the Shelekhovsky district. The implementation of this project became possible thanks to the victory in the competition of the Presidential Grants Fund.

From April 1 to December 30, 2022, the Charity Foundation will implement the project "Through Art — to the Dream." He was among the winners of the grant competition "To help simply" of the Charity organization "Center for Social Programs". The relevance of this project was based on the requests of elderly residents of the Shelekhovsky district of the Irkutsk region. They wanted to try themselves in decorative and applied art, get acquainted with modern techniques of work, create their own modern products. The overall goal of the project is to improve leisure activities for older citizens through a series of creative workshops in various areas of decorative and applied creativity (drawing, mosaic, decorative sculpture, pottery /clay modeling, botanical bas—relief, interior painting).

Also, the Creative Morning association conducts its activities in the Resource Center. The participants of the association are elderly people. The activity of the association is creative. The collective of the association gathers in classes on patchwork (patchwork). In this association, a group of elderly people with interests is gathered, which meets weekly in classes, the duration of which is 2-2.5 hours. In the classroom, participants study patchwork techniques, receive assignments from the head of the association, analyze mistakes, share their experience (show finished products) both with the members of the association and outside of it — participate in district and regional events.

The Grigory Shelekhov Charitable Foundation publishes information about its projects for the elderly, about the start of new projects and recruitment to new groups. According to the newspaper Shelekhovsky Vestnik, the most popular platform for the dissemination of information on the territory of the municipality is the Odnoklassniki platform. The Foundation uses all of the above information platforms, since the beneficiaries of the organization are their users, if not all, then one of them.

Conclusion

Many years of experience working with the elderly, as well as successful implementation of projects, makes it possible to communicate informally with beneficiaries. The authors identified the need to create more field events, both in the Shelekhovsky district of the Irkutsk region and beyond. It is worth noting that the organization of such events, including on a paid basis, does not bother many older people. Observing the "grandmothers" who brought their grandchildren to creative workshops (drawing, making decorative products, etc.) made it possible to identify the need and desire to do something like that.

To date, the introduction of new practices is relevant for the elderly beneficiaries of the Fund, since retirement is accompanied by a reduction in motor activity. According to the participants of the projects, their attending doctors note their positive effect from dancing and fitness classes. With the help of constant physical training, the weight and pressure of a person are stabilized, and this in turn relieves the load from the body of an elderly person. Thanks to training, an elderly person becomes more fit, slim, healthy and self-confident. Movement and physical education also contributes to the overall improvement of the elderly's well-being: it helps to get rid of insomnia and stress. Regular motor mode with proper load distribution helps an elderly person to conserve energy. The beneficiaries participating in the Creative Morning project note that patchwork develops the right hemisphere of the brain, which is responsible for processing nonverbal information: imagination, spatial orientation, emotions and intuition. Thus, it can be concluded that the projects that are already being implemented by the Grigory Shelekhov Charitable Foundation, for their beneficiaries, namely for elderly citizens, have a positive impact on the physical, spiritual and psychological health of participants in cultural and leisure projects.