The Ministry of Health has put Healthy Aging Centers (YAŞAM) into service in 180 health facilities in 54 provinces, where people aged 80 and over will be entrusted to the care of a physician responsible for them.
According to the information compiled by Anadolu Agency (AA), YAŞAM's first centers have already started to provide services for people aged 80 and over in 180 health facilities in 54 provinces of Türkiye. It is planned to expand the centers to 81 provinces within a short time and to extend their scope to serve people over the age of 65 in the next stage.
The aim of the centers is to facilitate and support elderly people's access to health services, to provide medical follow-ups, and, when necessary, to provide remote health services, examinations and consultancy services.
YAŞAM centers, where physicians, nurses, elderly health care personnel and medical secretaries offer services, also play an active role in determining the health care needs of the elderly at home or on-site and creating appropriate medical care plans.
In this context, elderly people are evaluated by home visits according to their conditions, and the treatment program they need is prepared by the physiotherapist, with measurements and evaluations for physiotherapy and rehabilitation.
Within this framework, the Ministry has formed 204 field teams so far, and 137 specialist physicians and 119 general practitioners have been assigned to these teams.
Making outpatient clinic appointments for the elderly, whose needs such as dressings, injections and catheter changes are met, and transporting them from home to hospital and from hospital to home when necessary are among the services offered by YAŞAM.
On the other hand, the ministry will first launch a remote health service called "Telemedicine" in YAŞAM so that the elderly can receive service without having to come to the hospital in some cases.
This way, it will be possible to print reports and prescriptions remotely, especially for follow-up and chronic patients.
After YAŞAM, the telemedicine system will be implemented in outpatient clinics, family physicians and hospitals.