Traditions and current trends in preserving the social potential of older people (the experience of Mordovia)

The article analyzes the specifics of preserving the social potential of older people using the traditions of family-related support for the Mordovians and modern technologies of social services. The relevance of the topic and problems of the study lie in the fact that most of older people lose their prestige, which is associated with the main area of professional occupation, experience problems of social status and related lifestyle, change the rhythm and living conditions.

The elderly people feel the need for family-related assistance which contributes to the preservation of their social potential, provided that the traditions of intergenerational communication, constructive family values, happy marriage and marriage satisfaction are preserved. The factors with negative values are divorce, domestic violence, unconstructive family values, deviant and antisocial family behavior, rejection of children from their parents, intra-family alienation. The elderly people often seek help from social services as well. The problematic issue is that both the family and the social service must act together. So the family can help an elderly person where the social service does not do it, and vice versa.

According to the results of a questionnaire survey of older people, important conditions are identified in preserving social potential: 1) the existence of activity that will allow an elderly person to fully reveal his needs, abilities and capabilities; 2) the environment in which the social activity of ерolder people is recognized and encouraged by society; 3) the creation of conditions in which older people are in demand by society. It was also revealed that the preservation of the social potential of older people is determined by the social parameters of the territorial community and the national characteristics of socio-cultural cohesion.