Socialization of the elderly: sociological aspect

The article is devoted to the actual problem of social services for elderly citizens at home. The whole social service system requires modernization based on the principles of providing social services to form motivation for active longevity and to develop social interaction of the elderly. The article deals with the issues of socialization of older people, its features, objective and subjective factors, the opinions of scientists on the factors, typology of socialization. There are presented the main problems of elderly people receiving services of social service institutions in the Russian Federation, identified on the basis of statistical data. There are outlined directions of the State strategy for development of the system of social services for older generation, improvement of their quality of life and active longevity under the conditions of socio-economic crisis. The author uses the results of own sociological survey of408 elderly respondents receiving social services in the social service institutions for the elderly. The importance of the services related to maintaining healthy and socially active longevity, organization of life and leisure, constructive interaction with relatives, for successful socialization of elderly people is shown. It is established that the most intensive socialization occurs in the process of providing social and socio-medical services. The dominant setting of elderly people is preservation of health; at the same time, it is the state of health that mostly determines the success of socialization of the elderly. For their active and healthy longevity elderly people prefer primarily cultural, educational, sports activities. However, many rely on the support of social service organizations.