Developments in social care 2021-2022
What changes took place in the social sector this year and what measures are planned for 2022
29.12.2021
Inspections of Pyscho-Neurological Residential Institutions (PNRIs), electronic certificates for people with disabilities and hospital care programmes that occurred during 2021, together with plans for next year, were discussed at a meeting of the Russian Federation’s Council on Guardianship in the Social Sphere organised by Tatyana Golikova, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister.
PNRIs
The level of abuse in PNRIs has declined during 2021, said Golikova. This year, Rospotrebnadzor inspected 234 PNRIs and found that the number of breaches of hygiene legislation had decreased by 17%. Such infringements have already been remedied in 64 Russian regions. “There are still many problems in PNRIs but the fact that we have drawn attention to the issues affecting these institutions gives us hope that our work is heading in the right direction”, said Golikova.
Support
Since 2021, PNRI residents have been provided with free support services which have been used by more than 20,000 people, said Golikova. In addition, child orphans can now be in hospital not only with staff from children’s institutions but also with members of CSOs and volunteers.
In-patient care
According to Elena Klochko, Chair of the All-Russian Association of Parents with Disabled Children, much has changed for the better this year in terms of in-patient social service provision. For example, arrangements have been put in place that allows in-patients to be visited in person so that they can now be seen by volunteers. Different types of technologies to replace in-patient care have also been widely discussed.
Electronic certificates
Another significant development has been the approval of a strategy for the rehabilitation of people with disabilities up to 2025. From next year, a project will be launched in the Sverdlovsk and Tyumen regions to provide comprehensive rehab services for disabled children with e-certificates.
HIV prevention
A great many discussions have taken place with the medical community this year on ways to improve access to HIV diagnostics and statistical records, said Grigory Potapov, the Council’s Deputy Chair. They also talked about the role of CSOs and their integration into the HIV prevention effort.
“In order to increase availability of HIV treatment there are plans to expand the system of centralised procurement for five drugs. The number of drugs, which have a combination of different agents, is gradually increasing which, in turn, improves the effectiveness of the treatment”, said Potapov.
Education for people with disabilities
Vitaly Rubtsov, a member of the Council on Accessibility to Higher Education for People with Disabilities within the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, spoke about improving access to higher education for people with disabilities.
During the year, the Ministry of Education and Science established a working group to organise vocational guidance and employment programmes for disabled people.
“For the first time, we offered to create pilot projects on the rehab of disabled students at universities. For example, 187 students with disabilities, mostly blind or visually impaired, are studying at the Moscow Psychological-Pedagogical University. The inclusion of rehab within the overall education system would be a very positive step forward”, said Rubtsov.
Helping homeless people
This year and for the first time in ages, attention has been given to providing help for the homeless and on how their plight might be prevented, said Alexander Spivak, Chair of the National Foundation for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. For him, the most pressing issues are to register these people and provide them with routine medical care. The result of these discussions has seen the Federation’s Ministry of Health and CSOs working together to put forward recommendations on the provision of medical care for the homeless.
The Ministry of Labour also decided to develop a separate procedure for providing emergency social services for the homeless which will minimise the risks of unjustified refusal of social assistance to this vulnerable group, said Spivak.
Translated by Neil Hailey
