PROBLEMS OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC SUPPORT FOR ELDERLY PEOPLE LIVING IN RURAL AREAS
The article analyzes the features of the socio-economic situation and the problem of increasing the effectiveness of social care for elderly people living in rural areas. The urgency of the problem is due to the increase in the number of employable people of senior age in the overall structure of the population, the growth of social risks caused by age-related changes and acquired health disorders, disability, transformation of social status, economic condition decline, the emergence of new social needs aimed at raising the level and quality of life of older citizens. The purpose of the study is to analyze the features of the socio-economic situation and ways to improve the effectiveness of social services for elderly people living in rural areas. The main socio-economic problems of elderly people living in rural areas are: insufficient level of social infrastructure development, limited access to many social services, relatively low living standards for rural residents, underdeveloped economic relations, territorial remoteness of many rural residents from social institutions, insufficient activity of socially-oriented non-profit and charitable organizations, prevalence of lonely senior citizens living in the villages, low social mobility and activity of the rural population, a fairly narrow spectrum of received social services focused primarily on social and personal services. Promising areas for improving the social service system are: the introduction of exit forms of social and medical assistance to citizens of elderly, distance technologies for the provision of consultative assistance, the support of non-profit organizations that provide social and medical services to rural residents.