Between 2015 and 2017 Professor Shereen Hussein supported the Turkish Ministry of Family and Social Policy (MoFSP) to review the scope and spread of its long term care services. The aim was to develop a new model of care to support older people to live independently in the community as long as possible.
The Ministry of Family and Social Policy (MoFSP) has been active since its inception to meet some of the needs of different vulnerable groups. Providing in the main cash benefits to older people, pensioners, people with disabilities but also with in-kind benefits such as retirement homes and admission to care homes. MoFSP has also been active in piloting new elderly care ideas such as shared living, observed in field visits, and some elderly care centres.
Turkey currently enjoys what demographers term as ‘population dividends’ due to the large proportions of young people, with declining fertilities and increased life expectancy these large groups will cause a fast pace of population ageing as large groups reach older age at once. The epidemiological transition experienced by Turkey means that many people with disabilities and long-term conditions are living longer and thus may require various social services across their life course. In addition to the demographic changes, which require a specific strategy to address issues related to older people, Turkey is faced with socio-economic changes that pose their own challenges in placing various groups of people at higher social risks.
To ensure the dignity and quality of life of older people, the MoFSP carried extensive policy development within the ‘institutional Capacity Development Project’ of the Ministry of Family and Social Policies in the Field of Social Inclusion Policies. This project was supported by with the resources of the European Union Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA I) funding.
A detailed report on the new elderly care model was published by the MoFSP in November 2017.
turkiye-de-yasli-bakim-hizmetleriCitation:
Özmete, E and Hussein, S. (2017). Elderly Care Services in Turkey: A Model Design for Best Practice Examples from Europe. Ministry of Family and Social Policy: Ankara, Turkey.
Founder and Director
Shereen Husseinis a Health and Social Care Policy professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), United Kingdom.
Shereen Founded the MENARAH Network in 2019, through an initial grant from the Global Challenge Research Fund, UKRI. She is a medical demographer with expertise in ageing, family dynamics, migration and long-term care systems. Shereen regularly collaborates with the United Nations, the World Health Organisation and the World Bank in policy and research focused on ageing in the Middle East and North Africa Region.
Shereen received her undergraduate degree in statistics and a postgraduate degree in computer science at Cairo University. She completed an MSc in medical demography at the London School of Hygiene and a PhD in quantitative demography and population studies at the London School of Economics and Political Science, United Kingdom.
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