Beyond the borders of demography (on the round table discussion “How to overcome Russia’s lag in life expectancy?”)

This article aims to identify potential of certain domains needed for use of demography knowledge in social practice. The study is based on material of the Round Table discussion devoted to the problems of mortality and life expectancy in Russia (April 17, 2015 National Research University Higher School of Economics). Materials of speeches and propositions of the Round Table participants who are the leading Russian demographers and experts in the field of medicine statistics were analyzed. In the methodological terms the procedure of the Round Table discussion could be equated to the focus group research method. The analysis of the participants’ assessments presents the variant of experts’ opinion on the demographic situation in Russia and policy-making in this field. The existence of significant limitations in the process of demography knowledge application in practice of social development was indicated. The experts' opinions regarding reasons of unfavorable demographic situation in Russia to a greater extent are focusing on managerial and material shortages in the healthcare distribution, while systemic or institutional problems are relegated to second place.