Social Contribution Panel from MAKU: Aging World and Lonely Aging Burdur

A panel titled "Aging World: Aging Alone in Burdur" was organized in cooperation with the Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University Center for Aging Studies Application and Research, the Provincial Directorate of Family and Social Services, and the Provincial Health Directorate. The panel, held at the MAKU Conference and Exhibition Hall, was moderated by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Deniz Say Şahin, Director of the Center for Aging Studies Application and Research. In her speech, Şahin shared the data they created for Burdur and information about the studies they conducted as a center. Şahin included the following details in her presentation: "The elderly population has become 8 million 451 thousand 669 people. The ratio of the elderly population within the total population, which was 8.5% in 2017, rose to 9.9% in 2022. According to TUIK's 2023 research, Burdur is among the 10 provinces with the highest and lowest rates of single elderly households. The elderly population in Burdur exceeds 45 thousand for those aged 65 and over." Şahin also shared the 'Field Research on the Needs and Requirements of the Elderly Living Alone in Burdur' they conducted as a center with the participants. After the opening speech, a presentation titled 'Aging, Old Age and Health from a Gerontological Perspective in Turkey's Changing Population Structure' was made by Prof. Dr. İsmail Tufan, Head of the Gerontology Department at Akdeniz University. Tufan, who emphasized that "You need to live to age", underlined that the processes of aging and old age differ and said, "We know what kind of old age journey Burdur has, and what kind of Burdur we will encounter in the future from the field research conducted. The number of people over 50 in Burdur is increasing." Turkey is Aging Silently Tufan, who also provided information about the population structure and change processes of Turkey, said, "We see that countries like Turkey, where birth rates are rapidly falling, are evolving towards the aging process. The most important finding that emerges when we look at the population structure in particular is that the need for care services will increase due to the density of the population over 50. There is an issue we face when we look at the social structure of Turkey. Turkey is aging silently. In 2050, the population of Turkey will be 100 million. 30 million will be over 60 years old. The majority of this population will be women. There will be elderly people over 60 suffering from chronic diseases. As a prediction for Turkey, the average lifespan will extend. There is a woman-specific issue. Women live longer. If we look at the expected change in Turkey's population pyramid, the population ceiling will expand, the base will narrow. While the number of births is decreasing, the elderly are rapidly increasing. In every study on old age in Turkey, you can see the helplessness of families. The problem of needing care needs to be solved by the introduction of care insurance. In the near future, care insurance will also be implemented in our country. The number of chronically ill elderly is also increasing. 4.1 million of the 9 million elderly are chronically ill. When you ask people, they say I turned my back and aged. Old age comes quickly. We need aging preparation programs. These programs need to be expanded in our country from the age of 40. Social service departments need to address this issue. This is also a national issue. We also see an increase in the number of elderly disabled in Turkey. The number of mentally, physically and visually, hearing-speaking disabled is increasing. Studies are being conducted on this issue. Our state is making the necessary effort. When we look at the results of demographic changes, the number of chronically ill elderly, disabled elderly and elderly in need of care is increasing. The 2030 vision of the Ministry of Health is extremely important and valuable. There are studies that can meet the needs of aging people." Later, Mukaddes Kılınç, the Provincial Director of Social Services, gave information about the studies of the Ministry of Family and Social Services. In her speech, Kılınç said, "In care services for disabled and elderly individuals, it is thought that disabled and elderly individuals will be happiest and most peaceful with their families, and a care service model that allows elderly and disabled individuals to receive care services without being separated from their social environment is emphasized in line with the understanding of community-based care, with the 'individual-centered' service understanding. There are no active life centers for elderly individuals in Burdur, but our first goal is to establish this center. These centers are located in many provinces of Turkey and the feedback is positive. These centers are centers opened to service with the aim of improving the quality of life of elderly individuals and contributing to their active participation in social life." She stated that various social cultural activities with student communities operating within MAKU are also included in the planned projects and shared information about the projects. We Implemented Our Elderly Friendly Hospital Project In his speech, Dr. Musa Murat Erk, the Provincial Health Director of Burdur, made an informative presentation about the studies they conducted as the Provincial Health Directorate. In his presentation, Erk said, "With the Elderly Friendly Hospital Application Project, we aimed to provide safe and quality health services, provide necessary consultancy services in healthy aging and old age processes, conduct survey applications to measure the quality of the service provided, make necessary explanations before the medical examination and treatment of patients over 65, and provide oral and visual information for illiterate patients, and we have worked on these issues. In addition, we focused on direction signs by creating a palliative care unit. We formed committees with one representative from all professions." He shared the operation of the Elderly Friendly Hospital Project with the participants. After the presentations, the panel ended with the presentation of thank you certificates to the participants by Deputy Governor Yasin Özcan and Vice Rector Prof. Dr. Hakan Öner.