[Socio-psychological grading in gerontology]

Senior and senile age is characterized by psychological, social and somatic heterogeneity of patients. To ensure high level of quality of life and to optimize the functioning of staff of geriatric hospitals we propose to introduce the distribution of pensioners within departments based on their psychosomatic status. On the analogy of the «medical triage», authors propose to introduce socio-psychological grading of older persons living in geriatric centers, focusing on their ability for self-care, the degree of preservation of cognitive functions, individual psychological characteristics. Testing of this grading was made on the basis of the Scientific and Methodological Gerontological Center. As a result of introduction of the principle of socio-psychological grading, positive dynamics in the psychological state of patients, better performance of the staff, and improved subjective assessment of the quality of life of older persons were registered.