Some aspects of subjective determination of the healt of older age groups

The article was prepared with the support of the RFBR grant 19-011-00661 "The Influence of ageist stereotypes on the formation of self-limiting attitudes and practices of older citizens"

Abstract

The transformation of the age structure characteristic of the fourth phase of the "classical"
demographic transition, which results in an increase in the share of older people in the population,
dictates the need to attract increased attention of the scientific community to the study of conditions and
factors designed to ensure the maintenance of optimal parameters of physical, social and emotional wellbeing of the population of older age groups. The purpose of this article is to analyze the impact on the well-being of older age groups of the life planning factor, represented in the study by two options:
1) planning of life in old age, carried out earlier, long before its onset, and 2) actual life planning, carried
out by representatives of older age groups who are at this age segment. Based on data from a
representative sociological survey conducted in 2019 among the population of older age groups in the
Belgorod and Voronezh regions, it is proved that the highest indicators of self-assessment of health are
representatives of older age groups with a planning horizon of five years or more, who planned their life
in old age long before it occurred, and are also convinced that health and life expectancy significantly
depend on the efforts of the individual. The negative impact of negation of the image of old age on selfpreservation attitudes and behavior in General is shown. Consideration of this problem is of great
theoretical and applied importance, since it helps to debunk negative gerontological stereotypes and is
intended to initiate the development and implementation of measures aimed at stimulating the practice of
long-term planning of their own lives in older people.