We all have a few common stages in our lives that are decisive. For this reason, we have given names to stages such as childhood, adolescence, youth, adulthood, old age, even though their content varies from one life to another. With the end of childhood and the beginning of youth, someone else becomes a child, while at the same time someone else begins to grow old, leaving the first phase of adulthood to new and temporary owners. So, if we are lucky, old age is a stage we all want to see. Yet, like every stage of life, the way it is experienced varies from society to society.
All over the world, people are striving to create an ideal old age for themselves, various government policies are being developed on this issue, and the number of private or state institutions providing services is increasing. The services provided in this context are generally categorized under the concept of advanced age or elderly care.
Elderly care services are shaped according to the elderly population, economic, cultural and social structure of the countries. The quality of life of societies and the medical care that can be accessed are improving over time. However, the human population is also getting older. For this reason, the preference for organizations that provide quality services in elderly care over time makes some countries more preferable in the international health tourism arena for the same reason. In Turkey, the number of organizations providing services in this context is increasing day by day and efforts are being made to gain recognition in the field of elderly care. These efforts to provide a quality service in elderly care are of great importance for Turkey to reach its targeted position in the field of international health tourism.
In Turkey, the number of organizations providing services in the field of elderly care is increasing and it is known that as of November 2021, there are more than 400 nursing homes with approximately 27,000 elderly guests. Looking at the general population, it cannot be said that Turkey has a dense elderly population. However, an increase in the number of elderly people in a country also means an increase in the level of welfare in that country and an increase in life expectancy. The ability of Turkey's population to age safely and live a healthy old age is among the prioritized goals.
Services provided in the field of elderly care also constitute an important part of the health tourism sector. People from different countries (these people can be tourists who come to Turkey for geographical, climatic, economic or cultural reasons, or expatriates who have lived abroad for years but want to continue the rest of their lives in their country) prefer institutions providing elderly care services in Turkey if they think they can have a safe and quality life experience.
Disability is a phenomenon that is subject to many different debates in terms of the ways it is defined, understood and experienced. The place of people with disabilities in society, the meanings attributed to disability in society, the policies developed / not developed in this direction are important in terms of resonating in human life itself. Everything that has been said and put into action on this issue is an indicator of the place of disability in social life. We all have a place in social life, but the comfort we have largely depends on the way other people position us.
Whether congenital, as a result of an accident or illness, each person with a disability is on a completely different path. But there are some common challenges that almost all disabled people experience. External dependency is one of these challenges and largely determines the position of persons with disabilities in social life. It also determines the meaning that they attribute to their own identity. In other words, the meaning that disability has in society is also a determinant of the way disabled people see themselves. For this reason, studies on disability are designed to raise social awareness and reduce discrimination. In this way, social life is tried to be reorganized in such a way that everyone can live safely and the population can integrate into social life in the healthiest way. Since the place of disability in social reality varies from society to society, policies for approaching the disabled population differ from country to country.
As a result of improvements in living conditions and advances in care and health services in Turkey, human life expectancy has increased and the proportion of the elderly population in the general population has started to increase over the years. According to a report prepared by the United Nations in 2015, 12.5% of the world's total population consists of individuals aged 60 and over. In the process, people with disabilities age or have various disabilities as they age. For this reason, the need for the development of elderly and disabled care tourism is increasing day by day.
Advanced age and disability care tourism is a form of service provided for tourists with advanced age or disabilities. In this sense, clinical guesthouses are opened and treatment centers providing geriatrics (old age medicine) services are established in order to provide proper care and rehabilitation. At the same time, there are various applications developed in care homes in Turkey by staff with the necessary training certificates. Examples of these include various trips, activities for people with disabilities, or so-called occupational therapy.
In Turkey, health care services are accessible and affordable for both elderly and disabled people and their companions so that they can fully participate. The health services offered and the institutions where these services are provided, the functioning and characteristics of the institutions have been carefully considered and prepared.
In care centers in Turkey, services are provided in the comfort of a 5-star hotel with a quality service approach, along with many treatment methods to meet the needs of the individual. Care homes with high health standards are staffed with experienced physicians, physiotherapists, psychologists, social workers, nutritionists, nutritionists and nurses specialized in related fields.
Elderly and disabled care tourism also includes services provided to accompanying companions, relatives and caregivers. For this reason, the number of patients and their relatives coming to Turkey has gradually increased and accordingly, the number of organizations organized has also diversified and increased. The elderly and disabled care tourism offered in Turkey primarily aims to ensure the integration of service recipients into social life.
References: https://usttak.org/engelli-bakim.aspx