Diyarbakır’da Yaşlı Olmak: İhtiyaçlar, Sorunlar ve Hizmet Beklentiler

Abstract

In order to be able to study old age in every aspect, one must discover the needs and problems of the elderly and their service-related expectations by taking into consideration their differences. Within this context and in the light of these variables, the optimal theoretical foundation to base this study was considered to be on is the combination of the ecosystem approach, Max Neef's hierarchy of needs and anti-oppressive practice. The study aims to reveal and provide solutions for problems, needs and service-related expectations of individuals aged 60 and older and living in Diyarbakir city center in line with their personal characteristics, characteristics of their families and family relationships, socio-economic conditions, migration experiences, daily lives in Diyarbakir and their expectations for life and future. A interview form with 116 questions was prepared by the researcher and used in this research that was designed in the screening model in line with the quantitative method principles. The research data was gathered between July 6, 2016 and January 25, 2016 from a total of 436 elderly, 218 women and 218 men, living in Diyarbakir city center. The obtained data was analyzed using SPSS 21,0 package program and elderly transfers, observations, frequency tables, cross tabulations and chi square test were made use of for identifying the results. According to the analysis carried out in the light of Max Neef's hierarchy of needs, the ecosystem approach and anti-oppressive practice, it was concluded that the most important problems of the elderly living in Diyarbakir city center are economic, they still face many unresolved issues after forced migration, they are severely affected by the conflict and security-related issues experienced in the city for many years, elements of oppression are the main reasons behind many of their problems, their past experiences directly affect their lives today, patriarchal system and family support still dominant, they lack information of and do not participate in institutional services, sexist perspective further aggravate the problems faced by elderly women, they ask local governments to establish institutions for the elderly only, they mostly want to go back where they lived before and the applied politicies lies at the core of all these problems. Policies targeted for improving life qualities of the elderly and institutional services to be provided within the framework of these policies are of capital importance to be able to solve these problems. It is also imperative to include the elderly to all these processes. As a result of the analysis conducted based on these three approaches, it was concluded that the political solutions to be adopted to eliminate these problems should go hand in hand with local forces with a holistic approach. Solving and meeting the problems and needs pointed out by the elderly and responding to their service-related needs are highly important in terms of treating everyone equally specific to Diyarbakir and raising awareness regarding the importance of local information production.