SOCIAL CONDITIONS OF KEEPING OLD PEOPLE’S HEALTH

Koisman L.A.

The Birobidzhan Branch Office of the Amur State University, Russia

In the past decade the problems of ageing become more actual because of people’s lifetime lessening. The number of older persons increases in all over the world and the problems of aging become global. The necessity to keep an active life and health in old age is one of the actual themes of modern scientific researches.

In spite of increased attention to the problems of aging thus far a lot of questions remain uninvestigated. There is no exact definition of the notion “old age”. V.V. Frolkis, Russian gerontologist picks out two contradictory processes in aging. The first is draining of adaptive capacities – stamina, limitation of self-regulation’ woks, metabolism and functions’ abnormality. The other is mobilization of important adaptive works connected with a human-being’s way of life. To study to control these processes means to study to control own health.

A very important period in a human-being’s life which depends on his way of life is a retirement income. By its importance it can be compared with such events as choosing a profession, entry into marriage. A human-being’s behavior, relations with other people, values and his relation to reality change. A human-being gets accustomed to the role of a pensioner, its possibilities and limits and on this basis he builds his further life. Usually older people are not ready to their new status and new period of their life activity. Such uncertainty influences negatively on social adaptation, social activity and satisfaction of an older person.

Besides emotional and individual problems of old age, intellectual functioning is not less important. The traditional point of view on older persons’ intellectual functioning was a concept of “intellectual shortage”. It meant that common intellectual capacities lowered at old age. Modern researches do not confirm this concept. We should take into account that reduction of intellectual measures at old age is often connected with reactions’ slowing down and because of this fact the time need to solve a task becomes longer. If they have more time they will solve a task better. The brain at old age is qualitatively different. At young age the brain is directed to the readiness to study and solve new tasks. At old age the capacity to solve tasks according to the accumulative experience and information plays the basic role. The level of mental capacities has great importance at old age especially if a man is engaged in creative and scientific occupation. The people of intellectual professions keep robustness till extreme old age.

K. Rogers proved that people a have genetically inborn program of self-perfection and actualization of potential capacities. A human-being tends to independence, rationality, social responsibility and wants to use what the nature gave him as much as possible while achieving a goal. According to Rogers a fully functioning human-being lives a “good life” and is capable to adapt to changing conditions. It says about a creative type and social maturity.

A lot of researchers believe that some peculiarities which were considered to be characteristic features of old age are really a result of bad food, a shortage of movements or illness. A heart and kidney can function at sixty-five years old the same as at young age and until life conditions promote a man’s activeness disorder of the brain will not happen. When a man stops to fulfill definite physical actions he little by little loses the capacity to act. It happens because the brain in some way adapts to the lost of this activeness and “deletes” it from its memory.

Researches show that the majority of older people are still able to work. If older people continue to work it improves their health, intellectual functions and satisfaction of life. Work gives a model of the usual activeness and is the source of stability and the condition of an old person’s health retaining. Fulfilling a definite job or types of jobs a worker enters into a difficult system of contacts, relationships that’s why he begins to suffer from discomfort, intensity and risk. Stressful situations often occur while activeness. Stress at work is a bad mood, rapid fatigability, irritability and health problems. Life without stress is impossible. G. Selye called an organism’s reaction on different factors as a common adaptation syndrome. The most destructive influence renders psycho emotional stress. Bad health is directly connected with much work a week, a rest’s problem, meals, little salary, dissatisfaction with work, and a fear of losing it for older persons.

Activeness has deep personality grounds: it is not only a way of needs expressing but also organization of life and activity’s conditions, search for conditions and means of activity. A man due to his activity finds subjects, conditions and situations of needs satisfaction, regulates actions and transforms reality. In A. V. Petrovskey’s opinion activeness defines activity, its grounds, aims, direction and is the motive power.

Longevity and self-realization of older persons depend on their activeness and efficiency. The professor I.A. Arshavskey singled out a man’s moving regime. The physical culture is a personality’s value for it provides social biological, vital potential and makes preconditions for harmonic development, promotes a high level of social activeness.

Older persons’ shortage of movements hampers normal life activeness. Old age is a definite life’s period which can open abilities to further development for active people.

Our investigation let us solve the following tasks: to analyze the conditions which influence older persons’ health; to find out older persons’ relation to their health; to define physical activeness’ significance for older persons.

At the first stage we studied and compared statistic data of morbidity among older persons in the Russian Federation, in the Jewish autonomous region, at Birobidzhan’s industrial enterprise.

The analysis of the data let us come to the conclusion that in the Russian Federation deceases’ growth is observed from 1998 to 2006 among the following deceases: cancer – 0.4 %, endocrinal system’ deceases – 1.1 %, brain disorders – 0.6 %, deceases of respiratory organs – 2.3 %, deceases of alimentary system – 1.2 %, cardiovascular deceases – 3.6.

In the Jewish autonomous region deceases’ growth is observed among the following deceases: cancer – 0.2 %, endocrinal system’ deceases – 0.3 %, brain disorders – 0.2 %, cardiovascular deceases – 0.6. Deceases of respiratory organs brought down 1.1 % in compare with 1998; deceases of alimentary system – 1.8 %. In addition we should point out the per cent of older persons with excess weight (43,3%) and deceases of locomotor system (33,3%) is high.

Thereby the results of the first stage of research let us come to the conclusion that there is a tendency to a number of deceases’ grow in Russia, in the Jewish autonomous region and at a town’s industrial enterprise. Everyday conditions, a way of life and bad customs influence the state of health.

At the second stage of the research we chose staff of the town’s industrial enterprise aged 50 and over. First we used a method of self-appraising of health state. Self-appraising has been studied for two years. Comparative results showed that self-appraising lowered. The reasons were changes of work conditions and incorrect interchange of labor and rest.

In order to prove that physical activeness is important to keep older persons’ health we used the following methods: “Are you physically healthy?” and “Evaluation for physical activeness”.

According the data we can come to the conclusion that among 30 persons only 6 working older persons lead active lives and 14 lead healthy lives, 16 persons live in improved apartments and have comfortable conditions of labour, 9 persons have high quality of life.

Also we tested persons aged from 32 to 48 using the same methods. And we come to the conclusion that the situation cannot be changed for results are worse. Consequently we can affirm that health of a man depends on himself and social conditions of labour and life.

According to our data we worked out recommendations for keeping human-beings’ health. The important component is a way of life, physical activeness, and adequate relation to health, labour conditions.

The analysis of the data let us make the following deductions.

1. Health of older persons is becoming worse. The quantity of deceases of respiratory organs, cancer, deceases of endocrinal and cardiovascular systems increases. All deceases are connected with a way of life, conditions of activeness.

2. Physical, physiological, psychic changes which influence health of older people occur. But if they lead correctly organized lives they will be able to keep health.

3. Working older people feel tired after a working day that’s why correct organization of labour and rest will help them to keep their health.

4. The third part of working older people have sitting work, smoke and have excess weight, all these factors lead to cardiovascular deceases’ development.

5. The majority of older people lead few active lives.

Health, a functional state of an older person, a capacity to active life has not only an individual character but also public. Healthy life is an integrative condition of health and prolongation of life. The basis of physical health is activeness of an old man influencing the function of the brain to keep necessary movements and functions in memory. It can help to keep health and efficiency. An older person needs such health which will let him keep independence self-respect and his place in society.

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