Elderly care in Turkey
           
The number of people who are over 65 is about 7% of the whole population of Turkey. The ratio of old people to total population is 6% in urban areas, whereas it is 9% in rural areas. These are the highest ratios concerning older population in Turkey. The ratio of older population, which was 4.3% in the 1990 General Census, was estimated to be 6.9% according to the Population and Health Study of Turkey in 2003. This is believed to be a result of the decrease in the birth rate and the increasing life expectancy. Besides, the past roles of old age have changed, it has lost much of its prestige and the home-care of the old has become an ever-worsening problem that we face. The improvements in medicine, the evolution of large families into nuclear ones, migration from rural areas to urban areas, the increase in the number of working women, the change in traditional culture and values and the differences between the young and the old generation are some of the factors that have brought about such a problem. All these factors have, thus, increased the need for more care at retirement homes for the old whose number is ever increasing and who suffer from social and economic deprivation.

Although the old are traditionally inclined to live with their family and children, a change towards the nuclear family has caused the number of those living at a retirement home to increase. The ratio of old people who live at a retirement home in Turkey is said to be 3.6%.

One of the important issues that affect the old is “the role of the old in the society”. Family environment is the healthiest atmosphere where social, emotional and physical needs of the old are fulfilled. However, their needs are no longer answered in this fast and complicated life of modern times.

The social relief services for the old in Turkey can be categorized under two headings:

1. Social Security Services: The old that are clients of the Retirement Fund (Emekli Sandığı), the Social Insurance Association (SSK) and the Social Insurance Association for Tradesmen and Craftsmen (BAĞ-KUR) benefit from social security. The code 2022 that was issued in 1976 about “giving a monthly salary to the indigent, destitute and homeless Turkish citizens over 65 enabled those who were over 65 and had no social security to get some sort of insurance.

2. Social Services: Nursing home (Huzur evi), home-care services, clubs for the old, consultation centers for the old and care and rehabilitation services form five main categories of social services.

The services that the old receive in Turkey have continuously been bettered. These services are mostly carried out by the Association of Social Services and Child Protection (Sosyal Hizmetler ve Çocuk Esirgeme Kurumu, SHÇEK) and, to a lesser extend, by local administrations, foundations, associations, some public organizations and private individuals with the aim of helping many old people at the same time. The number of nursing home and rehabilitation centers are 231 (Nov.2006).

In 1994, SHÇEK started a project to have trained aides look after old people who have nobody to take care of at their homes. The project, which is carried out by the Provincial Social Service Management (Sosyal Hizmetler İl Müdürlüğü) and which is put into practice only in Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir is anticipated to become widespread. 
 
Solidarity centers and clubs for the Old serve older people in order to answer social and psychological needs of the old who do not need boarding care and who live in a home environment, no matter how their socio-economic status is. Such services prevent them from being isolated, as well. These centers and clubs serve during the day to provide social and psychological support for people who are over 60 and live either with their family or alone. Currently, day services that help social and psychological needs of the old are carried out under the guideline concerning this issue.

There are, also, care and rehabilitation units for the old who can not look after themselves and need the aid of others.

Irrelevant and inadequate physical conditions of establishments that take care of the old and the insufficient quality and quantity of staff that work in such establishments are two foremost sources of problems encountered in services provided for the old in Turkey. Another problem is the lack of social and cultural programs that may socialize those who live in these establishments and help them to join the social life in a productive manner. Moreover, there are no special programs concerning geriatrics at departments of nursing. Geriatrics is covered only as a topic in syllabuses of departments of public health and psychiatry.

University of Gaziantep can prepare training programs about old age and care of the old and provide the staff of above-mentioned establishments with both theoretical and applied information in order to solve the problems encountered while serving the old.