The plenary became the key event of the “Senior Generation” Forum, which brought together more than 2,300 specialists from 37 regions of Russia.

The thematic focus of the speakers is government measures to support the social sphere and the provision of social services, issues of improving the quality and life expectancy of the older generation, the prevention and treatment of diseases, the popularization of cultural, tourist and sports activities among older citizens.

St. Petersburg is home to over 29 thousand people who have reached 90–100 years of age and 402 people whose age is over 100 years. The oldest St. Petersburg resident living in the Kalininsky district is 108 years old.

“As part of the implementation of the Federal Strategy of action for older citizens, St. Petersburg is implementing two directions: involvement in active longevity programs and accessibility of social medical care. The city also carefully implements such social programs as “Panic Button”, “Social Taxi”, and provides apartments in social buildings,” said Vice-Governor of St. Petersburg Natalia Chechina.

50 thousand St. Petersburg residents of silver age are involved in the active longevity program. More than 150 educational, sports and creative platforms are open to them. According to Natalia Chechina, all these measures allow the city to take a leading place in life expectancy, which averages 75.7 years.

“St. Petersburg is the flagship of Russian geriatrics. The city geriatric service was created in 1997. Currently, specialized care is provided by 84 geriatricians in 5 hospitals and 48 clinics in the city,” emphasized Vice-Governor of St. Petersburg Oleg Ergashev. He also noted that due to the growing number of older people, the need for gerontology specialists will increase.

According to experts, today about 20% of people under the age of 70 need comprehensive medical and social support, including expensive high-tech medical care and long-term care. For people over 70 years of age, this figure exceeds 50%.

The First Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Protection of the Russian Federation Olga Batalina outlined in her video greeting the priority directions of state social policy towards people of the older generation enshrined in the national project “Demography”.

“In order to achieve the goals of the national project, regional programs and state policy targets have been approved, including health and physical activity, prevention of age-related diseases, development of social services at home, creation of opportunities to continue working, protection against labour discrimination, continuing education and updating knowledge in new, promising areas,” she emphasized and expressed confidence that the proposals and initiatives voiced during the forum will be useful for the development of the country’s social policy.

Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Leningrad Region for Social Issues Nikolai Emelyanov noted that for the 16 years of the “Senior Generation”, a significant improvement in the quality of life of older people was noted due to the conclusions made at the Forum.

Also, there are obvious growth points. The total need for gerontologists in Russia is 1,972 specialists. Currently, 1,626 specialists work in the healthcare system, while some gerontologists work at 0.5 or 0.25 rate. The information was provided by Aleksandr Rozanov, Assistant Director for Regional Development and Federal Projects of the Russian Clinical and Research Center of Gerontology of the Federal State Autonomous Educational Institution of Higher Education Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University of the Ministry of Health of Russia.

The picture of the city's social sphere was presented by Elena Fidrikova, Chairman of the Committee on Social Policy of St. Petersburg. According to her, today there are 76 social service organizations in the city, of which 53 are state and 23 are non-state ones. The coverage of older citizens with social services in St. Petersburg is higher than the average for the Northwestern Federal District – 15.5%, versus 13.8%. More than 53.3 thousand people are involved in city active longevity programs, which include social tourism, computer and financial literacy training, sports and creative activities. The city Employment Service has become involved in the employment issues of citizens over 50 years of age. It helps with employment, career guidance and training. The opportunity to receive advice from specialists of the Employment Service is provided directly at the organization’s stand located at the “Senior Generation” exhibition.

The “Senior Generation” Forum will be held at Expoforum from October 11 to 13. The organizers of the event are: ExpoForum International company, the Committee for Social Policy of St. Petersburg and the St. Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology.