"Wintering houses" are being created in the Vitebsk region for lonely pensioners

In the Vitebsk region, significant savings of budget funds have been achieved through new forms of social work with lonely pensioners. "Wintering houses" are organized for the elderly, and they are cared for by foster, guest, and patronage families. It is also possible to live permanently in "shared living houses." The correspondent of "Zvyazda" visited the Gorodok district and observed how grandmothers and grandfathers live in a state institution.

Caring as for One's Own

Svetlana Zueva, director of the territorial center for social services of the population of the Gorodok district, advised to definitely visit the village of Maloye Losvida, where 77-year-old Raisa Semyonovna Sidunova is cared for by Alexander Andreevich Rybakov. By profession, he is a seventh-grade turner and is involved in beekeeping. If it weren't for this man, the grandmother would have had to be "settled" in a medical-social bed at the Gorodok Central District Hospital. Of course, if she wished. But she doesn't want to move anywhere. Besides her, two previously convicted individuals live in the village, and during the warm season, summer residents. The village is located on the shore of a famous lake, but it is, one might say, disappearing.

So far, the man's care for the grandmother cannot be considered pure patronage, as Rybakov does not receive money for it.

"I simply help the grandmother and do it for free – for over twenty years now. She is almost like a relative to me. She has no children, she is lonely. Representatives from the village council came and offered her a social bed. She doesn't want to move anywhere, she asks: 'Just don't leave me, don't 'give me away' anywhere.' So I don't want to take sin upon my soul! I feel sorry for the person," says Alexander Andreevich.

He lives in the neighboring village, which is about a kilometer away. Every day he visits or cycles to the grandmother's. His wife, Lyubov Semyonovna, does not object to her husband doing charity work. And their son and daughter, who live in Vitebsk, sometimes help out. Rybakov himself is already a grandfather twice.

"For a while, she lived in our village. She was not married, lived in a civil union. But her partner died. And her brother died, and her sister died about six years ago. At first, I simply helped, and I have been fully caring for her for about five years," the man continues.

He said that even more help was needed when Raisa Semyonovna fell ill with polyarthritis (a joint disease - author's note) a couple of years ago. She can barely move on her own. Every day, the man cooks and feeds the elderly woman, and also treats her with products brought by his wife, brings groceries, mows hay, and cultivates the garden.

— My wife and I plowed the land for the grandmother, planted potatoes, carrots, and onions... I cultivate 5 ares of land for her, and she has 24 ares in total. Why let the plot go to waste? Her pension is 1.8 million rubles. It's hard to live in the village on this money, especially when you're sick. Need firewood? You order a tractor with firewood, and it costs 1.5 million rubles. To chop it, they charge another 300 thousand rubles. It's practically no pension. And to plow, to get a horse, you pay a private owner 25-30 thousand rubles per are. Now I don't have my own horse, but I used to, — the man talks about his household affairs.

According to him, he is not the only one who worries about the grandmother. For example, electricians replaced the wiring for free, and he plans to "hide" those wires under new wallpaper.

For New Year's and March 8th, he always gives the grandmother gifts. According to him, few of his fellow villagers understand his actions. And they spread various rumors: they say he wants to get something in return! But Alexander Andreevich no longer pays attention to such conversations.

It's easier to demand...

In the village of Smalovka, there is a round-the-clock care unit for elderly citizens and disabled people.

— Our institution is designed for 28 residents at the same time. Currently, we have 25. One male and two female places are free. The youngest resident was born in 1965. There are those who are almost 90 years old. In total, including myself, there are 11 staff members, — says Alla Kuzmina, the head of the round-the-clock care unit.

While showing me the facility, she introduced me to a husband and wife. Tatyana Ivanovna was born in 1949, and her husband is older than her. Before retiring, she lived in Kazakhstan, then she came to her mother in Kuybyshev, but her mother died in her arms.

— I didn't manage to register at her apartment. I moved to Belarus and got a job at a state farm. I had never lived in a village before. I met my future husband, Vasily Vasilyevich Trofimov, at work. He was recently ill — a cerebral hemorrhage, he was only recently discharged. Now we live here — we are not alone after all. We have no children or relatives, no one visits us. They feed us here three times a day, and give us juice or kefir in the evening. You can also buy something at the mobile shop.

The ward is cozy and clean. Benefactors also help.

— The international charity organization "Sofia" bought dishes, shelves, cabinets, and a dryer. We have a plot of land. Last year the harvest was very good, we almost completely provided ourselves with potatoes. We also grow vegetables: cabbage, carrots, onions, cucumbers, tomatoes, and we spend the saved money on other purposes. If any of our residents wish to work and their health allows it, they can.

One of the women, when I spoke with her, complained that she was not given soap, although 85% of her pension is deducted for maintenance.

It turned out that the woman has a son, but he does not visit her, and she herself has a prior conviction... Is it really impossible for her to buy soap for a few thousand rubles with the money left from her pension? It is possible. But it is easier to demand from the state.

Both doctors and nurses

The grandmothers living together in one apartment in Horadok charged the author of these lines with optimism. Antonina Malakhovna Ivanova, born in 1928, and Nadezhda Konstantinovna Goncharova, born in 1931, are sisters-in-law. They highly praised the social worker Ina Vladimirovna Katyushkina, who visits them four times a week, brings groceries, and cleans the apartment.

— We've been here for almost three years now, — says Nadezhda Konstantinovna.

— I've already been to Smolevichi, where many people live together, — I didn't like it. And I can't live alone: the apartment is large and without amenities, — says Antonina Malakhovna.

Nadzeya Kanstantsinaŭna was born in the Horadak district. Her sister-in-law was born in Ukraine, in the Donetsk region. She moved to the BSSR before the war with her parents. She says she doesn't know exactly how old she is because her Ukrainian documents "disappeared" during the war. The year of birth her mother told her was the one recorded.

Both worked as laborers at a flax mill until retirement. And now they take responsibility for each other – they support and care for each other.

— If she gets sick and can't do anything around the house, and I still can, then I do everything. And if I get sick, she will do it. Her legs don't work well, mine work a little better. I can even go to the store. We have our own device to measure blood pressure – we are our own doctors and nurses, — Nadzeya Kanstantsinaŭna continues.

I inquired about the grandmothers' daily routine. They wake up at 7-8 in the morning. Sometimes they fall asleep as late as 9-10 in the evening. While we were talking, their good friend came to visit, who by age could have been their granddaughter. She sometimes helps – for example, washes windows.

By the way, their apartment has new plastic windows. The grandmothers said they ordered and paid for their installation themselves. They also had good doors installed in the same way, and a good floor laid according to their order. They live in warmth and comfort, watch TV…

There is a lot of positivity in these people. They joked that maybe they would get married again! If only the grooms were full of strength. "Dazhynki" will be held in Horadak next year, and the grandmothers definitely plan to attend the celebration.

They also live in farmsteads

Vera Mikalaeŭna Astapenka, Head of the Department of Social Support for the Population and Stationary Institutions of the Committee for Labor, Employment and Social Protection of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee, notes that new forms of work are primarily applied taking into account the mood and wishes of the elderly themselves.

— Having conducted sociological surveys and meetings with elderly citizens, we found that many want to live in conditions as close to home as possible, and where they have lived for many years. Therefore, such forms of housing for the elderly as "wintering houses," foster, guest, and patronage families are widely used. About 250 people are already receiving social services in this form. As for the economic effect, ten round-the-clock care units with an average occupancy of 25 people — that's the same 250 people. The annual expenses for maintaining one such unit are, on average, 1 billion rubles. Accordingly, maintaining ten such institutions costs 10 billion. At the same time, the cost of a social worker's salary per year is 34 million rubles. To serve 250 people, 27 social workers are needed — which means the expenses for their salaries per year will amount to 918 million rubles, — she says.

According to Vera Nikolaevna, it would be advisable in the Year of Thrift to implement the aforementioned forms of housing for the elderly in every district and city. One of the economically beneficial forms is also... sending people in winter to agro-ecotourism estates, which are not in demand during this period. How?

— An agreement is concluded with the head of the agro-ecotourism estate. According to this document, the person is provided with a sleeping place, three meals a day, bedding, the stove is heated, and laundry is done for them... In return, they pay 1.2 million rubles monthly to the "wintering house" budget. This is already practiced in the Glyboksky district, and I believe this new form of service should be implemented in other districts of the region as well. If all possibilities for an elderly person to stay in home conditions are exhausted, it is proposed to place them in a round-the-clock care unit for the elderly and disabled. There are 20 such units operating in the region (58 in total in the republic) with more than 650 beds, — added Vera Ostapenko.

This year, a department has been opened in the Shumilino district (for 30 places). It is planned to complete renovation work and commission a department in Babinovichi, Liozno district, as well as open rooms of increased comfort in the departments of Miory, Liozno, Postavy, Senno, Tolochin, Beshenkovichi districts. The issue of their full occupancy remains problematic, as being at home or "almost at home" is always better.

Aliaksandr Pukshanski, Zviazda