Health Promotion Among Home-Dwelling Elderly Individuals in Turkey

Abstract

AbstractAlthough the social structure of Turkish society has changed from a broad family order to a nuclear family, family relations still hold an important place, where traditional elements dominate. Still, elderly people are cared for by their family in their home environment. Thus, the role of family members is crucial in taking care of elderly individuals. In Turkey, the responsibility of care is largely on women; the elderly’s wife, daughter, or daughter-in-law most often provides the care. Family members who provide care need support so that they can maintain their physical, psychological and mental health. At this point, Antonovsky’s salutogenic health model represents a positive and holistic approach to support individual’s health and coping. The salutogenic understanding of health emphasizes both physical, psychological, social, spiritual and cultural resources which can be utilized not only to avoid illness, but to promote health.With the rapidly increasing ageing population globally, health expenditures and the need for care are increasing accordingly. This increase reveals the importance of health-promoting practices in elderly care, which are important for the well-being and quality of life of older individuals and their families, as well as cost effectiveness. In Turkey, the emphasis on health-promoting practices is mostly focused in home-care services including examination, treatment, nursing care, medical care, medical equipment and device services, psychological support, physiotherapy, follow-up, rehabilitation services, housework (laundry, shopping, cleaning, food), personal care (dressing, bathroom, and personal hygiene help), 24-h emergency service, transportation, financial advice and training services within the scope of the social state policy for the elderly 65 years and older, whereas medical management of diseases serves elderly over the age of 85. In the Turkish health care system, salutogenesis can be used in principle for two aims: to guide health-promotion interventions in health care practice, and to (re)orient health care practice and research. The salutogenic orientation encompasses all elderly people independently of their position on the ease-/dis-ease continuum. This chapter presents health-promotion practices in the care of elderly home-dwelling people living in Turkey.