Older adults comprise almost one fifth of all the residents living in the district of Beşiktaş. As the Beşiktaş Municipality, we continuously improve our services through specific policies aimed at meeting the needs of this group, which make up of a considerable portion of the total population. Field work was carried out in 2012 aimed towards older adults aged 75+ and some striking results were obtained regarding their profiles and needs. The question of “What is your most primary need in your elderly period?” asked in the survey was answered by 29,8% of the participants as “house cleaning and hygiene support”, and 33,27% answered “personal care and cleaning”. In addition, the survey revealed that 28,86% of the participants were fully or partially dependent in performing their daily activities and meeting self-care needs. In accordance with the results of these results, a series of projects and services that can satisfy such needs were employed by the Beşiktaş Municipality. Our basic services for the elderly include the Well-Being Service, through which the elderly citizens’ houses where they spend most of their time are cleaned and their personal care is performed by support workers at home; Catering Service, which provides them with a healthy and balanced diet free-of-charge; the Social Alarm in order to make them feel safe and also for emergencies at home; Social Centers which offers them the opportunity to leave their houses and socialize in a safe and peaceful environment; the Social Consultancy Service aimed at protecting their rights and fulfilling all their needs.

Catering Service

The primary goal of the Beşiktaş Municipality’s meal delivery service, Catering Service, is to facilitate the lives of our elderly residents -especially those over the age of 75 -who are not able to cater for themselves and the handicapped and disadvantaged individuals who live alone, and to enhance their quality of life. The annual menu planning is carried out by expert dietitians and food engineers. Each meal involves three portions. Every day, except for national holidays, one meal is delivered to the houses of those citizens.

Social Centers (Leisure Houses)

Social Centers, one of the service projects started by the Beşiktaş Municipality for the elderly, offers the residents of Beşiktaş who are 65 and over the opportunity to do activities aimed at improving cognitive skills and to socialize and meet new people in a clean and lively medium. We have three Social Centers; Etiler, Ulus and Accessible Social Centers. In the Social Centers, residents aged 65 and over can also benefit from the Psychological Consultancy Service, which is a professional assistance that enables them to know themselves better, to be aware of the reasons of the problems they face and to cope with such problems in an effective way. In addition to face-to-face talks, psycho-social group therapies are also provided with a view to help them to overcome their physiological problems. In addition to some outdoor organizations for groups such as concerts, seminars, tours and picnics, the center also provides several indoor activities like hobby gardening, group games, wood painting and so on.

Social Alarm

The Social Alarm device works through an electronic system connected to the telephone line. The details delivered by the elderly residents aged 65 and over are recorded into the system at our call center so that once the button is pressed, the number of the device and all the details of that resident are visible at our call center and the person is connected to. There are two main buttons on the Social Alarm device. The red button is used to call an emergency ambulance. When it is pressed the call center is connected and an emergency ambulance is immediately directed to the address. In addition to the emergency health service, police and fire brigade is also directed when this button is pressed. And the blue button is used to directly connect to our call center. And there is an additional button for cancelling a faulty call.

Well-Being Service

Our Well-Being Service is aimed at facilitating the lives of our elderly residents -especially those at the age of 75 and over- who are not able to cater for themselves and the handicapped and disadvantaged individuals who live alone. The purpose of the service is to create a healthy, safe and peaceful environment in their houses where they spend most of their time. As part of our Well-Being Service; “Personal Care Services”, “Cleaning and Hygiene Service” and “Practical House Arrangements Service” are provided to our citizens in their houses by the qualified staff of the Beşiktaş Municipality.

1. Services at Home:
a) Personal Care Services: It includes personal care services for both women and men provided by male and female assistant coiffeurs at home such as hairdressing, shaving, eye brow and eyelash care, partial hair setting and styling (brushing and basic hairstyling), nose hair-cut, ear hair-cut, partial epilation, nail clipping and nail care.
b) Cleaning and Hygiene Service: We provide the disabled/disadvantaged or elderly residents with house cleaning and hygiene services at home once a month upon their request.
c) Practical House Arrangements Service: It includes some services such as simple modifications and maintenance of house equipment (services like hanging and taking down the curtains, relocating furniture, immobilizing, mounting and demounting etc.), designing the house in accordance with the personal needs of the group being served (turning unsafe circumstances into safer ones such as slippery floors of the houses where particularly disabled and elderly people live, catering ware which may cause perforating injuries, inadequate lighting which may pose a risk for personal safety at home).

Home Health Care Services

The Beşiktaş Municipality aims to achieve a healthy society by supporting the families and increasing the quality of lives of the residents who are aged over 65, disabled or in need of care due to chronic diseases through the free-of-charge Home Care and Social Support Service. As part of this service, healthcare needs including personal care are provided to the residents who need special medical care at home due to old age and physical disabilities in their houses where they live with their families.
This project includes medical care service provided by doctors and nurses, and additionally medical consultation, emergency service and patient transport ambulance if necessary. Nurses can give injections, perform burn and injury dressing, catheter application, drawing blood and serum for laboratory examinations, voiding urine, taking temperature, attaching and detaching urinary catheter, making care plans, informing patients and their families about the illness and condition of patients,  and providing training about illnesses. They also check and record the fluid patients take and void, give and change the position of the patients, helping patients to raise, walk, sit, take eating position and eat.

Social Consultancy Service

The consultancy service aimed at addressing the obstacles faced by the elderly concerning the respect of their socio-economic rights includes: hospital treatment, home care services, healthcare services at home, old age pension and other services offered to the elderly by other institutions. In addition to guiding information, older adult citizens are also provided with psycho-social support during the consultancy process with the purpose of helping them to cope with the negative experiences arising from these treatments and personal care supports which may bring along important changes in their lives and routines.