Turkey: many seniors choose institutional care over family care
A survey conducted by theSocial Services and Child Protection Agency (SHCEK) reveals that amajority of senior center residents have living relatives but that theyprefer to live in centers because of a lack of care from theirrelatives. Theresearch was carried out in connection with the Project on ReducingSocial Risk (SRAP). It also estimates that 9 percent of the Turkishpopulation will be over the age of 65 by 2010. Nearly half, 45 percent,of participants in 63 senior centers in 46 provinces noted they werefrom rural areas. A majority of them are widowed and undereducated; 59percent of the survey participants did not even finish primary school.However, the research also shows that those who are waiting foradmission are relatively better educated; 90 percent of male seniorcenter inhabitants and one in three females were previously employed.More than half of surveyed seniors do not benefit from any socialsecurity or pension system.
Accordingto the research, 85 percent of respondents have at least one livingrelative, whereas 14 percent have none. Half of the seniors who haveone relative noted they were able to see their relatives at least oncea month and half indicated they were being financially supported bytheir relatives. Thirty eight percent of center residents who have beenliving there for a relatively long time described the center as “home,”20 percent as “place to live in,” and 22 percent as “a residentialplace with hard conditions.” Their stated reasons for living in thecenters are “difficulty in living alone,” a wish “not to be a burden onthe family,” “inability to take care of [him/herself] in daily life”and “health reasons.”