Foreigners eye 5-star retirement
Posted by meb at April 7th, 2008
With Turkey’s elderly population gradually beginning to increase, investments in luxury rest homes are becoming a profitable venture and have also attracted the attention of foreign investors.
A semi-feudal lord, or ağa, from the southeastern Anatolian region of Turkey enters, by chance, a rest home for the elderly while escaping from a hospital in Istanbul. Finding himself amid some elderly people left alone by their families, the old ağa, later goes on a journey to his hometown together with the elderly people he met at the rest home.
His aim is to show the genuine appreciation and love for the elderly to those people left to their destiny. The movie “Beyaz Melek” (White Angel), which tells the story of elderly people living in rest homes, did not bring a plethora of awards for its director Mahsun Kırmızıgül but with the box office record it broke it caused many to grasp the sensitivity of its theme.
Increasing in number daily, the number of private rest homes seems to erase the bad rest home scenes that mostly become the subject of movies and news programs. In fact, the last five years have witnessed an eight-fold increase in the number of private rest homes, which, with their saunas, cinema halls and physical therapy clinics, almost resemble five-star hotels. Competing to present the best familial comfort and warmth, these private rest homes for the elderly have also attracted the attention of foreign investors. While investors from Australia and Germany are currently focusing on Turkey, the De Wever Foundation, providing care for about 2,000 elderly people in a total of 17 rest homes in the Netherlands has been in contact for some time with Istanbul’s Darülaceze (Almshouse) Foundation to take over the management of a 300-bed rest home in Yakacık district that it established through a YTL 8 million investment.
Private rest homes shelter 5,000 old people
According to figures by Turkey’s Social Services and Child Protection Agency (SHÇEK), the number of private rest homes for the elderly has reached 109 since 2002. Five years ago there were only 12. In addition to private ones, there are a total of 69 rest homes that are dependent on SHÇEK, six that belong to different ministries, 19 that belong to municipalities and seven that belong to non-Muslim communities in Turkey.
In the 69 rest homes belonging to SHÇEK, a total of 6,412 elderly people are being cared for as of September 2007. According to estimates, the number of elderly people residing in privately owned rest homes has exceeded 5,000.
Private Rest Homes Solidarity Association President Ekrem Azaklı said the need for rest homes for the elderly has increased with women’s more active participation in work life, industrialization and the increasing elderly population. Azaklı said specifically that high-standard rest homes with quality service have attracted the attention of foreigners as well. “Presently, there are foreign investors that have a close interest in the Turkish rest home market. The Darülazece Foundation is currently in contact with a Dutch firm. Investors from Germany and Australia have been conducting market research,” said Azaklı. “An Australian investor who has realized the evolution of rest homes for the elderly in Turkey plans to train specialized caretakers for the elderly because Turkey lacks such professionals.”
Darüşşafaka (Benign House) Foundation President Zekeriya Yıldırım, on the other hand, said, “our population is getting older while life expectancy is increasing and income per capita is also increasing. In 2025, the population over the age of 64 will reach approximately eight million. And caring for the elderly will be the number one item both on the state’s and private sector’s to-do lists.”
Azaklı, noting that they would like to erase the bad image rest homes have in the pubic eye, said, “ill treatment at rest homes constitutes a bad example for the public and it negatively affects the sector from time to time. Owners of rest homes for the elderly say that during some periods almost no one comes and registers at their rest home simply because of false representation of such places in the media. For instance, during the period while the film “White Angel” was in theaters, enrollments to rest homes were almost frozen due to the negative scenes in the film.”
İkinci Bahar (Second Spring) Rest Home owner Fatih Yentür said bad images related to rest homes for the elderly are all around because of a lack of control in these places. But, as good examples increase, that image will disappear, he added. Yentür said they submit weekly or monthly reports to families of the elderly people residing at İkinci Bahar.
Specialization in illnesses
In addition to the five-star comfort they provide, private rest homes for the elderly have also become specialized in the treatment of certain illnesses. Given the fact that geriatric illnesses have increased tremendously in Turkey within the last decade, it is regarded as progress that rest homes have started to specialize in care for the elderly with such illnesses. Special units have even been formed at some rest homes for the elderly for patients with paralysis, Alzheimer’s, dementia, and Parkinson’s. Special rest and care homes for geriatric patients are yet another development that have occurred within the last few years.
Asiye Akdağ, owner of Private Kadıköy Yaşam Rest House and Care House for the Elderly, said specifically that patients with Alzheimer’s, dementia and Parkinson’s stay in private rest homes. Akdağ, a retiree from SHÇEK after 27 years in office, said 56 out of 99 elderly people they are currently caring for suffer from Alzheimer, while 39 suffer from dementia. Akdağ said because bedridden patients are not officially cared for at state hospitals, families are inclined to place them in private rest homes for the last years.
With a regulation in 2007, residential rest homes also began to provide day-care-only. Immediately after the change, some rest homes began to accept non-boarder old people as well. Such places will increase in the upcoming years, say the rest home owners. Elder people’s psychology changes, though they have the capacity to meet their daily needs. But rest homes with day care will apparently be a solution to that for it will lead families to drop their elderly to such places for the day and take back in the evenings, add the owners of rest homes.
Personnel to be trained abroad
As competition increases in the rest home sector in Turkey, some rest homes seeking to be prominent actors of the market have accelerated training for their personnel. Some send their staff to special programs in Europe while Private Rest Homes Solidarity Association has been in contact with a number of universities to launch programs about taking care of the elderly. Yet, some rest homes train nurses and caretakers they hired themselves. Yentür of İkinci Bahar said they have signed various agreements with rest homes in foreign countries and have been exchanging personnel and elderly.
Another novelty in Turkish rest homes for the elderly is the notion of “residence” that Darüşşafaka has pioneered. Founded in 1863 upon a “firman” (edict) by the Ottoman sultan, Darüşşafaka Foundation is now providing hotel comfort to the elderly with specially designed residences it has inaugurated. But only those who donate an amount between $200,000 and $400,000 to the Foundation can benefit from the special residences located in Yakacık, Maltepe, Şenesenevler, and Urla. Residences have pools, Jacuzzi, fitness and game centers.
Darüşşafaka Foundation providing all kind of services other than aesthetic surgery and organ transplants to the elderly designs each residence for private use only. Its president, Yıldırım, said they have turned Darüşşafaka into a residence-like place to separate it from other public and private rest homes for the elderly. “Elder people staying in our residences also have the chance to go and stay with their families. Besides, our physical therapy and rehabilitation centers provide free service to our elderly suffering from Alzheimer, Parkinson, dementia, and paralyses,” said Yıldırım.
Services provided by private rest homes
24 hour live monitoring system for families
Sauna
Gymnasium
Swimming pool and natural thermal massage areas
Games like backgammon, cards, scrabble for memory refreshment
Bathroom, telephone, refrigerator, and television in rooms
Garden activities
Annual birthday parties
Barbecue, museum visits, nature tours, and music entertainment on weekends
Daily exercises
Computer room and library
Personalized menus
Source: Referans via Turkish Daily News
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