ELDERLY AGE AS A VULNERABILITY FACTOR DURING WARTIME

Abstract

Elderly people are a vulnerable population, and therefore, in the practice of social work, they are considered a specific, special group that requires the satisfaction of specialized individual needs. Currently, their implementation is ensured through social guarantees, social insurance; provision of social assistance, social support, social services; implementation of social projects and programs aimed at developing the resilience of the elderly. The authors of the article note that the full-scale invasion of Russia into our country's territory on February 24, 2022, had a negative impact on the lives and health of the elderly, threatening their overall resilience. Currently, society is facing exceptional, unusual, and extraordinary challenges: changing priorities, creating new forms of assistance and social support for the elderly, providing shelters for temporary accommodation, seeking ways for their integration and social adaptation into host communities, and training professionals to work in emergency conditions. Given the wartime situation in Ukraine, it is important to focus on the key challenges faced by the elderly for needs analysis. These challenges include self-care difficulties, loss of social connections, separation from adult children and friends, psychosocial and moral-value disadaptation in society, loneliness, self-isolation, and low quality of life. The article states that in the early days of full-scale Russian aggression, basic human needs such as the need for water, protection, health, and food were under threat. Due to the war, elderly people constantly experience threats to their own lives, health, lose the sense of security, protection of their loved ones, and the ability to live in comfortable conditions. Currently, the issue of individual and national security is both relevant and urgent. However, the lack of control over this issue leads to confusion, anxiety, agitation, concern, stress, disorientation, and so on. These factors can result in behavioral changes, with individuals displaying anger, aggression, irritability, low self-control, and heightened panic moods.