25 years of supporting older Ukrainians

A HelpAge network member on delivering lifesaving support and empowering older people across Ukraine.

Published

For more than two decades, the All-Ukrainian Charitable Organisation “Care for Older People in Ukraine” (Turbota pro Litnih v Ukraini) has championed the rights, dignity, and well-being of older adults across multiple regions of the country, currently operating volunteer networks in nine cities and reaching thousands of beneficiaries. Founded amid the nation’s challenging transition in the late 1990s, the organisation has since navigated multiple crises – from the post-Soviet period to the ongoing war – to ensure that older people are never forgotten.  

In this interview, Halyna Polyakova, Executive Director and a driving force behind the organisation for 25 years, reflects on how the organisation evolved volunteerism in Ukraine, addresses the challenges facing older Ukrainians, tackles ageism, and shows how communities can support one of society’s most vulnerable – and often overlooked – groups. 

Founding vision and early days 

Q: Could you share how your organisation began 25 years ago?  

Polyakova: When we started, I was at the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, where we had launched a School of Social Work. We received a fax from Age Concern England, now Age UK, and I was immediately intrigued by the focus on older people. At the time, Ukraine had no established social policy frameworks like those I had studied at the London School of Economics. Introducing the idea of volunteerism was challenging – back then, people struggled to grasp that volunteering involves giving one’s time and skills without financial reward. Even today, I remind colleagues that paying volunteers contradicts the UN Volunteers Programme ethos. 

Volunteering was almost incomprehensible here in 1999. Even today, I still have to explain that you cannot pay a volunteer.

Volunteer efforts and community engagement  

Q: How do you ensure older people’s voices guide your work, and what milestones stand out for you?
Polyakova: We are the community we serve. Our 1,500 volunteers are themselves older people, bringing a lifetime of experience to their roles. Some seek purpose after retirement; others want to repay past kindness. Some seek purpose after retirement, others want to repay kindness they once received. One volunteer, terminally ill, spent her final months sewing clothing for front-line troops, determined to be of use to the very end. 

Everything we do emerges from older people’s real concerns. Volunteers identify issues, whether it’s misleading “social” pharmacies or bus routes that need extending. In one city, they convinced local authorities to move a bus stop for the comfort of older passengers. During the war, in Ternopil, volunteers rose at 5 a.m. to prepare hundreds of sandwiches for evacuees. In Mykolaiv, they carried water in large containers and created a medicine bank. In Khmelnytskyi, they baked three tonnes of biscuits for the front lines. None of our volunteers saw this as a sacrifice; They simply saw others in need and wanted to help. 

We are the community we serve. Our 1,500 volunteers are themselves older people, bringing a lifetime of experience to their roles.

Meeting older people’s needs 

Q: How do you protect and promote the rights of older people?
Polyakova: We recognise that older people’s needs align with the classic hierarchy – basic necessities, security, recognition, respect. We help them advocate for better services at the local level, such as ensuring public transport is accessible and that people are unformed about misleading labels like “social pharmacies”  when prices are actually higher, not lower. 

Our focus is individual advocacy. If an older person needs a repair or loses documents, our volunteers will accompany them to relevant agencies, ensuring the issue is resolved. I recall a case where a hospital initially refused admission, but after our intervention, they accepted the patient.  

During one of our surveys, we discovered that 70% of older people consider officials to be their primary oppressors, while they have the least complaints about police officers. Interestingly, police often work with older adults as victims of domestic violence, with 30% of older people experiencing abuse from family members. 

Thus, our approach involves helping specific individuals with specific problems through volunteers. To raise societal awareness, we educate various professional groups – from shopkeepers to transport workers – on how to meet older people’s needs. We have trained the police in 18 cities on recognising dementia symptoms, taught 2,000 social workers how to care for people with dementia, and produced educational videos endorsed by the Ministry of Social Policy. 

Q: What do older people themselves care about the most?
Polyakova: Contrary to misconceptions, their concerns go beyond personal hardships like low pensions. They worry about their environment from inaccessible transport to uneven pavements. They care about their communities as much as they care about themselves.  

Older people’s concerns go beyond personal hardships. They care about their communities as much as themselves.

Adapting in times of war 

Q: How have you continued your work during the war?
Polyakova: For us, the war began in 2014. Initially, we supported those in occupied territories. Later, we focused on villages near the front lines. Since the escalation in 2022, we also help older people living at home and in care facilities. Their core needs – safety, food, shelter – remain the same, though harder to secure. 

Rethinking ageing 

Q: What lessons have you learned about ageing?
Polyakova: Ageing is not a disease – it’s a natural stage of life that must be navigated with dignity. Society rarely accommodates older people’s physical realities: we need clothes that are easier to put on, shoes that fit changing feet, cosmetics and services tailored for this age group. I’m 68, and I don’t want to wear a headscarf or sit quietly on a bench. Yet it’s hard to find elegant clothing designed for my needs.  

Physical changes are inevitable, but it’s the stigma and the notion that joy fades with age that truly trouble me. This is wrong. We must ensure older adults not only live longer, but live well. We must not only add years to life, but life to those years.  

Ageing is not a disease. It’s an important stage in life, one that must be navigated with dignity. We must not only add years to life, but life to those years.

Partnerships and HelpAge network 

Q: How do partners contribute to your success?
Polyakova: Collaborations are crucial. With the Ministry of Social Policy and the National Police, we’ve ensured older people’s protection. Police deliver aid where our volunteers cannot safely go.  

Donors, too, are indispensable. The German Federal Fund EVZ and World Jewish Relief have helped us support older people in care homes. Working with fellow Ukrainian organisations like Slavic Heart, we amplify each other’s efforts and reach more older people in need.  

Q: How has being part of the HelpAge network supported your work?
Polyakova: We have been an affiliate member of HelpAge since 2012. Early on, we received a small grant to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Abuse. With that funding, we staged street theatre performances in 20 cities across Ukraine, raising awareness about older people’s rights and the issue of abuse. 

Since the outbreak of the current war, we’ve also received a grant from HelpAge to support nursing homes and distribute humanitarian aid in the Ivano-Frankivsk region. We didn’t limit our efforts to the city centre; we reached 82 villages, including remote mountainous areas where cars could not pass. In those cases, we carried 36-kilogram aid packages by hand to ensure older residents received the supplies they needed. Being part of the HelpAge network amplified our ability to safeguard the well-being of older people, even under the most challenging conditions. 

 

Looking ahead 

Q: What are your priorities for the future?
Polyakova: Our mission remains the same: protecting older people’s rights and interests. Post-war, their experience and resilience will be essential as we rebuild. We must break ageist stereotypes so that no older couple faces ridicule for finding love in their seventies. We must ensure older people live with dignity, not merely survive. I want people to understand that ageing brings wisdom and potential, and that older people deserve respect, comfort, and meaningful contribution to the world around them.