From "Service" to "Development": Cognitive Stimulation Technology for Older People Presented at an All-Russian Conference in Kostroma
On October 16, the VIII All-Russian Scientific-Practical Conference with International Participation "Technologies of Social Work with Older People and Persons with Disabilities" was held in Kostroma. The event took place in a hybrid format at the "Work in Russia" Personnel Center.
The business program of the conference included a remote presentation by the Head of the Center, Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences Elza Fidayevna Shakirova. During the plenary session, she presented a report on the topic "Cognitive Stimulation Therapy (CST) as a Technology for Working with Older Persons: Experience of Implementation in Normative Aging," prepared in co-authorship with Anna Alexandrovna Shvedovskaya, Candidate of Psychological Sciences, Associate Professor at the Department of Developmental Psychology named after L.F. Obukhova, Faculty of Educational Psychology, Deputy Head of the Scientific and Practical Center for Gerontopsychology at MSUPE.
The report focused on a key challenge: the transition from a "service" model to a "development" model. Traditional services maintain everyday comfort but leave the older person in a passive position. CST, originally created for working with dementia, in the adaptation by MSUPE specialists becomes a tool for re-socialization. "CST is not memory training," noted Elza Shakirova in her report. "It is a structured environment of live communication that, through an appeal to personal experience, returns to the older person a sense of their own significance."
The speaker dwelt on the results of the pilot implementation at MSUPE within the "Moscow Longevity" project (autumn 2025). The study showed that the main factor in retaining participants was the opportunity for communication and the formation of horizontal connections. According to diagnostic data (ACE-III scale), significant improvements in mental health and social functioning were recorded.
Particular emphasis was placed on practical applicability. The introduction of CST at the stage of normative aging is an investment in the prevention of cognitive decline and social isolation of older adults, reducing the need for expensive inpatient care in the future.
It was noted that MSUPE already offers distance learning in cognitive stimulation therapy, with a certificate and methodological guide for launching the program.
The moderator of the conference, Olga Nikolaevna Vericheva, Head of the Department of Social Work at the Institute of Pedagogy and Psychology of Kostroma State University, Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences, Associate Professor, commenting on the results of the plenary session, emphasized the significance of the presented experience. She noted that the technology of cognitive stimulation therapy has a socially proven result and represents a comprehensive interdisciplinary tool combining the foundations of psychology, neuropsychology, and social work.
The experience of the MSUPE Gerontopsychology Center was recognized by the expert community as in demand, and the proposed model was recommended for further study and application in the practice of regional social protection systems.