RESOURCE AND REGULATORY SUPPORT FOR THE ORGANIZATION OF CARE DELIVERY TO PEOPLE OLDER THAN WORKING AGE IN THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION, 2015-2020

Abstract

Aging is one of the major global demographic trends, including in the Russian Federation. In this regard, health officials pay a special attention to the resource and regulatory support for care delivery to people older than working age, taking into account the changed conditions and capabilities of medical organizations. The purpose of the study was to assess normative documents and main indicators characterizing the number and performance of geriatricians providing medical care to the elderly and senile people. Material and methods: retrospective analysis of data from federal statistical observation forms No. 30 for the period from 2015 to 2020, data on the population aged 60 years and older, Rosstat data, orders of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation No. 38 and No. 297. Content analysis of regulatory documents, statistical (calculation of extensive and intensive indicators), descriptive statistics using MS Office Excel 2016, Statistica 6.1. The study results showed that, despite a gradual increase in the number of geriatricians and relevant visits by patients of this category, the full-time position staffing remains low, affecting a growth in the part-time coefficient, suggesting a need for training geriatricians. For example, the number of geriatricians in Russia as a whole in 2020 equaled to 0.09 per 10,000 population older than working age. The ongoing decline in medical position staffing against a background of a positive growth rate in the number of medical specialists is probably due to the gap between the increasing number of full-time positions and the staffing rate by individuals. Conclusion: the study results have identified the need for developing time standards that correspond to the modern conditions of primary care delivery by geriatricians, as well as establishing workload standards and the actual number of doctors in this specialty to ensure high-quality care delivery to the elderly.