Elderly services

Abstract

Elderly population has increased by 63% within the last 30 years. In 2005, the life expectancy at birth was estimated as 72.7 year for females while this number is 68.0 year at males for the overall world population today. But in 2010, the life expectancy at birth is estimated to reach 73.8 year for females and 69.0 year for males. The number of elderly persons is increasing gradually in Turkey. The percentage of elderly population was 4.3 percent in 1990, then it was increased to 5.6 percent in 2000 and it is expected to reach 7.7 percent in 2020. Simirlarly, the life expectancy at birth was 69.1 years in 2000 while it is expected to reach 70.3 years in 2025. Aging in our country, as it is all over the world, constitutes an important problem. Though there are establishment and home care projects seeking to address this problem. The services serving to the elderly are categorized in three groups in the world; institutional care facilities, home care services and social services programs. The services serving to the elderly in Turkey are categorized in two groups; social security system and social service program. The purpose of this paper was to show the current situation of the elderly in Turkey, to inform the researchers about elderly services and attract their attention on this subject.