Abstract

In Ukraine the category of “minority” should be understood as a community of citizens of Ukraine who are historically settled in the country, whose number is less than a half of the population of Ukraine, who identify themselves ethnically from the majority of the population, differ from most people by their ethnic origin, save and develop their identity, culture, language, and religion. Social work with minorities is realized within the general system of social services with the help of common technologies, but taking into account the mental, cultural and psychological characteristics of ethnic groups. The most relevant types of social work with minorities are nursing the elderly, chronically ill and people with disabilities; material charity that is focused primarily on low­income strata, employment assistance, medical and social services and assistance in the leisure organization. The main problems that exist in social work with ethnic minorities are the next: low financing of social work with ethnic minorities programs, a lack of educational training programs for social workers and volunteers, a lack of skills and knowledge of the cultural characteristics of different ethnic groups, no cooperation with the heads of national minorities in the region, public misunderstanding of the nature and importance of social work with ethnic minorities, a high risk of burnout for the social workers.