Skip to main content

Main menu

  • HOME
  • ONLINE FIRST
  • CURRENT ISSUE
  • ALL ISSUES
  • AUTHORS & REVIEWERS
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • BJGP LIFE
  • MORE
    • About BJGP
    • Conference
    • Advertising
    • eLetters
    • Alerts
    • Video
    • Audio
    • Librarian information
    • Resilience
    • COVID-19 Clinical Solutions
  • RCGP
    • BJGP for RCGP members
    • BJGP Open
    • RCGP eLearning
    • InnovAIT Journal
    • Jobs and careers

User menu

  • Subscriptions
  • Alerts
  • Log in

Search

  • Advanced search
British Journal of General Practice
Intended for Healthcare Professionals
  • RCGP
    • BJGP for RCGP members
    • BJGP Open
    • RCGP eLearning
    • InnovAIT Journal
    • Jobs and careers
  • Subscriptions
  • Alerts
  • Log in
  • Follow bjgp on Twitter
  • Visit bjgp on Facebook
  • Blog
  • Listen to BJGP podcast
  • Subscribe BJGP on YouTube
British Journal of General Practice
Intended for Healthcare Professionals

Advanced Search

  • HOME
  • ONLINE FIRST
  • CURRENT ISSUE
  • ALL ISSUES
  • AUTHORS & REVIEWERS
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • BJGP LIFE
  • MORE
    • About BJGP
    • Conference
    • Advertising
    • eLetters
    • Alerts
    • Video
    • Audio
    • Librarian information
    • Resilience
    • COVID-19 Clinical Solutions
Letters

The future of elderly care in Turkey

Turgay Albayrak, Rabia Kahveci, Adem Özkara and Ismail Kasim
British Journal of General Practice 2014; 64 (618): 14-15. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp14X676320
Turgay Albayrak
Ankara Numune Training and Research Hospital, Department of Family Medicine, Ankara, Turkey. E-mail:
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • For correspondence: turalbayrak@gmail.com
Rabia Kahveci
Ankara Numune Training and Research Hospital, Department of Family Medicine, Ankara, Turkey. E-mail:
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • For correspondence: turalbayrak@gmail.com
Adem Özkara
Ankara Numune Training and Research Hospital, Department of Family Medicine, Ankara and Hitit University, Department of Family Medicine, Çorum, Turkey.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Ismail Kasim
Ankara Numune Training and Research Hospital, Department of Family Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Info
  • eLetters
  • PDF
Loading

Although elderly and end-of-life care have been neglected in Turkey, because older people did not constitute a high percentage of the population, the proportion of citizens aged >65 years is now 7.5%, with this proportion expected to increase to 10.2% by 2023, 21% by 2050 and 28% by 2075.1 These estimates put Turkey as one of the most rapidly ageing populations in the world and have stimulated research and discussions around healthy ageing, chronic disease management and elderly care.

Turkey has also started to observe and analyse how other countries have managed this situation. Advance care planning has also been a topic of discussion for the older population. The UK has been one of the countries that have put efforts into better care of older people, and recent publications in the BJGP have inspired us.2,3

The family medicine model has been fully implemented in Turkey since 2010. The new model allows doctors to have their own registered patients and the most reliable data in Turkey relies on the medical records of these registries. The opportunity here lies in the recognition of the transitions in people’s lives, as described by Eynon et al.3 The unique relation of GPs with their patients and the enthusiasm of the new model facilitates communication and gives time to speak on the topics that were not previously touched.

When is the right time to discuss advance care planning? We think that earlier is better, when people are still healthy and can make sound decisions. For a population still young, but ageing very rapidly as in Turkey, discussions around advanced directives have already been started.4 Such a move is likely to overcome the challenges Sharp et al mention, such as families, time, patient reluctance, or dementia.2

It is not easy to talk on these topics. The fear and discomfort experienced by the GP might be added to the avoidance by the patient and care givers. We have very recently run a study to explore views of healthcare professionals and patients on end-of-life decisions, and found that both sides were not comfortable in talking about end-of life or even filling in a questionnaire on this topic. This remains as a challenge to overcome.

  • © British Journal of General Practice 2014

REFERENCES

  1. 1.↵
    1. Turkish Statistical Institute
    Population Projections, 2013–2075. http://www.turkstat.gov.tr/PreHaberBultenleri.do?id=15844 (accessed 4 Dec 2013).
  2. 2.↵
    1. Sharp T,
    2. Moran E,
    3. Kuhn I,
    4. Barclay S
    (2013) Do the elderly have a voice? Advanced care planning discussions with frail and older individuals: a systematic literature review and narrative synthesis. Br J Gen Pract doi:10.3399/bjgp13X673667.
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
  3. 3.↵
    1. Eynon T,
    2. Lakhani MK,
    3. Baker R
    (2013) Never the right time: advance care planning with frail and older people. Br J Gen Pract 63(615):511–512.
    OpenUrlFREE Full Text
  4. 4.↵
    1. Kahveci R
    (2007) A step towards democratization of health care services: patient involvement in terminal life support decisions. [In Turkish]. Turkiye Klinikleri J Med Ethics 15:90–93.
    OpenUrl
Back to top
Previous ArticleNext Article

In this issue

British Journal of General Practice: 64 (618)
British Journal of General Practice
Vol. 64, Issue 618
January 2014
  • Table of Contents
  • Index by author
Download PDF
Article Alerts
Or,
sign in or create an account with your email address
Email Article

Thank you for recommending British Journal of General Practice.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person to whom you are recommending the page knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
The future of elderly care in Turkey
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from British Journal of General Practice
(Your Name) thought you would like to see this page from British Journal of General Practice.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Citation Tools
The future of elderly care in Turkey
Turgay Albayrak, Rabia Kahveci, Adem Özkara, Ismail Kasim
British Journal of General Practice 2014; 64 (618): 14-15. DOI: 10.3399/bjgp14X676320

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero

Share
The future of elderly care in Turkey
Turgay Albayrak, Rabia Kahveci, Adem Özkara, Ismail Kasim
British Journal of General Practice 2014; 64 (618): 14-15. DOI: 10.3399/bjgp14X676320
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo CiteULike logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One
  • Mendeley logo Mendeley

Jump to section

  • Top
  • Article
    • REFERENCES
  • Info
  • eLetters
  • PDF

More in this TOC Section

  • An earlier diagnosis of heart failure
  • Group A strep: has point-of-care testing for primary care finally come of age?
  • Author response
Show more Letters

Related Articles

Cited By...

Intended for Healthcare Professionals

BJGP Life

BJGP Open

 

@BJGPjournal's Likes on Twitter

 
 

British Journal of General Practice

NAVIGATE

  • Home
  • Current Issue
  • All Issues
  • Online First
  • Authors & reviewers

RCGP

  • BJGP for RCGP members
  • BJGP Open
  • RCGP eLearning
  • InnovAiT Journal
  • Jobs and careers

MY ACCOUNT

  • RCGP members' login
  • Subscriber login
  • Activate subscription
  • Terms and conditions

NEWS AND UPDATES

  • About BJGP
  • Alerts
  • RSS feeds
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

AUTHORS & REVIEWERS

  • Submit an article
  • Writing for BJGP: research
  • Writing for BJGP: other sections
  • BJGP editorial process & policies
  • BJGP ethical guidelines
  • Peer review for BJGP

CUSTOMER SERVICES

  • Advertising
  • Contact subscription agent
  • Copyright
  • Librarian information

CONTRIBUTE

  • BJGP Life
  • eLetters
  • Feedback

CONTACT US

BJGP Journal Office
RCGP
30 Euston Square
London NW1 2FB
Tel: +44 (0)20 3188 7400
Email: journal@rcgp.org.uk

British Journal of General Practice is an editorially-independent publication of the Royal College of General Practitioners
© 2023 British Journal of General Practice

Print ISSN: 0960-1643
Online ISSN: 1478-5242