St. Petersburg has developed and been implementing several city projects designed to improve life quality of older people and engage them into social life. These projects are part of the Strategy of Action for Older People, 2021-2025.
13 committees of the Government and Administrations of all 18 city districts are involved in the implementation process.
The focus of the activities is to:
– improve well-being of older people and promote their employment;
– improve quality and availability of health care;
– develop advanced forms of social care and improve quality of social services;
– create an enabling environment for active longevity;
– provide for access to educational and information resources;
– develop society considering interests of older people;
– improve mechanisms for intersectoral collaboration of the city’s authorities.

In the framework of the Employment Support Program, older people receive career counselling services. They can get vocational training and additional education for no charge via Jobs in Russia web portal. Some activities aim to engage older people into entrepreneurial activities.

Several projects such as “Health of Women Aged 50+”, “Alarm Button”, “Active Longevity”, “Availability of Geriatric Care”, “Prevention of Cognitive Disorders”, “Support to Families of People with Early Signs of Dementia”, “Schools of Care” are implemented on city and national levels to improve quality and availability of health care.

A federal pilot project is implemented to set up a system of long-term care for older people as part of efforts designed to promote advanced forms of social care. Also, “Navigator of Social Services in St. Petersburg”, Single Center of Telephone Service and thematic chatbot in Telegram were created and advanced to improve access to social services. A library of social practices “Professional Social Library” is available for professionals involved in delivery of social services; this portal is used for monitoring of social care practices in the city is well.

Support is provided to community-focused non-profit and volunteer organizations working in the interest of older people. More than 90% of public social care institutions engage volunteers; many of such volunteers are older people.

Work is in progress to provide a barrier-free environment, especially in social infrastructure facilities.

The city proactively organizes and conducts mass physical fitness activities for older people. 80 large physical fitness events were organized for older people in 2023 on the city-wide level, and more than 1000 events in the districts of St. Petersburg. Sports centers are available on the district level which include over 700 sports facilities where older people can engage in various sports activities for no charge or at a reduced price. In 2023, approximately 1/3 of older people have used the services of the sports centers on a regular basis.

City- and district-level artistic activities are conducted for older people in St. Petersburg on a regular basis. Significant incentives are provided to attend cultural facilities and guided tours. 35 public social and leisure centers with over 500 thematic clubs are operating in the city.

Special attention is paid to teaching computer and financial literacy skills, safety rules when making electronic payments, and use of remote services to senior residents; as well as a raising awareness campaign to prevent telephone and internet scam, including in relation to older people.
Annual forum Older Generation is annually convened in St. Petersburg, which gathers various professionals involved into promotion of age-friendly environment in the city. Typically, this forum is well perceived by older people as a platform to receive services and attend various activities.