SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY VIEW OF ANKARA UNIVERSITY CENTER ON AGEING STUDIES: A MODEL PROJECT ABOUT “COLOURING THE LIVES OF ELDERLY” Prof. Dr. Emine OZMETE Head of Ankara University Center on Ageing Studies IFA 11th GLOBAL CONFERENCE ON AGEING, PRAGUE

YAŞAM= LIFE YAŞAM was established on the 9 th of November 2010 in the Official Journal according to the “Foundation of a Center Regulation”

Mission of YAŞAM; The mission of YAŞAM is to form social policies to meet the economic, social, cultural and psychological needs of elderly people and to contribute and carry out projects on research / education and the implementation in the field of the welfare of the elderly at both macro and micro-level, to publish and develop sustainable education and implement models for the elderly, provide training for professionals working in the field of elderly care and welfare and provide consultancy services.

BASIC PRINCIPLES OF YAŞAM Being sustainable Special care on research, publication, service, education and community relationships Monitoring global trends, contributing to the establishment of social policies concerning the elderly population in Turkey Focusing on senior individuals’ environment, planning and implementing economic, social, cultural, emotional, physical and psychological programs to ameliorate senior individuals’ lives Liaising between the university and the organizations in service of the elderly people Co-operation with non- governmental organizations, local administrations, public and legal persons, implementation of common projects towards the prosperity of the elderly Development of national and international co- operation and accreditation Embracing interdisciplinary approach Focusing on the elderly

YAŞAM ADMINISTRATION Head Ankara University Faculty of Health Sciences Department of Social Work Prof. Dr. Emine Özmete Member of Administration board Ankara University Faculty of Medicine Department of Geriatric Sciences Prof. Dr. Teslime Atlı Member of Administration board Ankara University Faculty of Law Department of Social Security Law Assoc. Prof. Levent Akın Member of Administration board Ankara University Faculty of Education Sciences Department of life long learning Assoc.Prof. Hayat Boz Member of Administration board Ankara University Faculty of Politic Sciences Department of Work Economics Assoc. Prof. Senay Gökbayrak

The nation that does not feel grateful to the ones who worked with all their power in the past, does not have the right to project the future with confidence.

The history of YAŞAM is very young but it is a history of a dream. The idea of this centre started being discussed at a time when “ageing” as a concept was not even mentioned both in the academic, social and policy arena in Turkey. Approximately 20 years ago, when we were planning our research projects about ageing, we were aware of the fact that Turkey needs to increase the number of institutions which focus on ageing studies. YAŞAM has emerged as a result of congregation of various interdisciplinary ageing research studies that have been taking place for a long time at our university.

Ageing Data

The rate of elderly people is 7.1% in Turkey. This rate will be 18% by Ageing is big phenomenon in Turkey as well as world wide. *Economic problems *Social Problems *Psychological problems are increasing with ageing.

WHY STUDY ELDERLY? “Old age is a phase when the accumulated life experience and wisdom emerges and when the individual re-discovers everything. For that reason, as Cicero says “Wanting to be young again is like a horse who wants to go back to start line when he already crossed the finish line”. Elderly people are the important representatives of the past. They are valuable in terms of transferring past knowledge and values to the future. Recognising elderly and benefiting from their knowledge will both help them to remain their status in the society and will contribute to the society.

In this respect, providing quality services to the elderly and developing relevant social policies have become one of the most important policy areas in Turkey. Global ageing has resulted in rising demand for economic and social needs. In order to meet this demand, private and public sector, universities, NGOs and local governments have to be more responsive and involved.

What Is Social Responsibility? Being Socially Responsible means that people and organisations must behave ethically and with sensitivity toward social, cultural, economic and environmental issues.

“Colouring the Lives of Elderly” In the scope of “Colouring the Lives of Elderly“ social responsibility project, we provided maintenance for the houses of the poor elderly, who are either living alone or with their families, in order to add value to their lives. The number of families who live under the poverty line has been increasing and most of the elderly and their families in this situation are not even able to meet their basic needs such as food. Moreover, deteriorating health conditions result in the increase of treatment and medication expenditures. For that reason, maintenance of the house is not a priority for them. Even if it becomes a priority, most of the time they do not have the means for this.

Ankara University Center on Ageing Studies Kayalar (Multi National Firm) DUFA Wall- Paint Elmadag Municipality

22 March 2011, “Respect for the Elderly” week International Conference on “Social Policy Agenda for the Elderly”

Seyranbağları Nursing Home

ELDERLY POVERTY IN ANKARA: THE ANALYSIS OF ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL NEEDS

WORLD HEALTH DAY “HEALTH AND AGEING:BEING HEALTHY ADDS LIFE TO THE YEARS” SYMPOSIUM APRIL 7 TH, 2012

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