PROBLEMS OF THE ELDERLY LIVING IN RURAL DISTRICTS IN TURKIYE AND ACTIONS TO BE TAKEN

İngilizce (OpenAlex)

Lifespan in the world has risen up with the upturn in health care services and the increase in people’s consciousness in healthy lifestyle. On the other hand, decrease in fertility has led the governments to be prepared for the ageing of the population and social policies towards the elders and the services became diversified. Elderly population is accepted as one of the social values. Developing social policies where social inclusion is provided became one of the common aims of both developed and developing countries. Developed countries could produce more qualified and integrated elderly policies and put them into practice due to the sources they have. However, developing countries with limited sources follow policies prioritizing developed regions and big cities in order to reach their growth targets. These policies can prioritize active population. This condition can be seen in Türkiye which is a developing country. Urban affairs caused by rapid urbanization continue, investments toward agriculture and livestock are insufficient and meeting new technologies and developments are retarded in rural areas. Repulsive factors of the rural areas and the attractive factors of the urban areas direct particularly the young population into the cities while it increases the number of elders living in rural areas. On the other end of the scale, there are numerous problems elders face including physical, economic, social and technological ones. Accessibility obstacles in the first place, inadequacy of the health maintenance organizations, economic problems, accessibility issues to the charitable organizations are prominent problems. Within this study, information regarding social policies presented towards elders in Türkiye is given, the condition of the elders in Türkiye is scrutinized and the problems elders living in the rural areas face are mentioned. Within this scope, in the study which will be created with literature review, solutions to increase the elders’ quality of life in rural areas. In this process, researches conducted in Türkiye are benefited form. The ultimate aim of the research is to overemphasize the importance of governments’ concentrating on elderly policies and to increase the academic interest towards the problems of the elders living in rural areas.