29 January, Vitebsk /Alena Tikhonova - BELTA/. More than 400 pensioners in the Vitebsk region will assess the completeness and quality of services offered to them. A basic sociological study has commenced in the region to identify the degree of satisfaction of elderly people with various types of services, the regional organisation of the Belarusian Red Cross Society (BRCS) informed a BELTA correspondent.
Respondents have been provided with a questionnaire developed by the Republican Research Institute of Labour, which includes over 70 questions concerning aspects of elderly people's lives such as "household chores", "personal care", "health status", and "leisure, culture, and activities".
"The regional organisation of the BRCS is conducting the survey in conjunction with the Committee for Labour, Employment and Social Protection of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee. A distinctive feature of its implementation is that interviewers will include not only representatives of territorial centres for social services for the population but also elderly people who are members of initiative groups established within the district organisations of the BRCS," the Red Cross noted.
Based on the survey results, which will also involve elderly people from the Minsk, Grodno, and Brest regions, it is anticipated that proposals will be made to improve the provision of services to elderly citizens within the new national programme for social services for the population.
The basic sociological study to identify the degree of satisfaction of elderly people with various types of services is being conducted within the framework of the project "Empowering Older People in Decision-Making for Their Full Participation in Society", which is being implemented by the BRCS in the Minsk, Vitebsk, Grodno, and Brest regions with the financial support of the European Commission, the Austrian Development Agency, and the Swiss and Austrian Red Cross Societies.-0-