Turkey discusses scope and regulations of dementia day-care services with Ministry of Family Labour and Social Services

12/12/2018

Türkiye Alzheimer Derneği (Turkish Alzheimer Association, TAA) organised a workshop with the theme “Day Care Services Imperative and Suitable for Persons with Alzheimer’s” in collaboration with the Ministry of Family Labour and Social Services and interested NGOs and related public service institutions. The workshop took place in the day-care Centre in Konya, where one of the 14 branches of the Association functions, on 12 December 2018.

Among the many participants of the workshop, were the executive staff of associated departments of the Ministry, managers of Ankara and Konya District Health Boards, the president and board members of the TAA, representatives of NGOs like the Federation of Service Associations, the Home Care and Social Services Association, the Association of Geriatric Physiotherapists, the Association of Turkish Retirees, the Association of Musical Therapy, etc. and municipality authorities, as well as academics from Necmettin Erbakan University.

The main topic discussed was “whom should day-care centres serve and what should be the scope of the services?” After pointing out that the main aim of these centres should be to maintain the capabilities of people with dementia, and employ occupational therapy methods to help reduce aggressive behaviours and help reduce “carer burden”. It was also stated that the regulations issued in 2008 covered day-care centres for the elderly, while the one issued in 2016 apply to day-care centres for people with disabilities – meaning that people with dementia fall into a grey area between these categories, and when they are younger than 65 but still disabled due to the illness they are not within the range of any of these regulations. Thus, the conclusion was that the biggest priority of this committee remains to be defining the term “Dementia associated Disability” and designing a set of regulations describing the services that need to be offered in dementia day-care centres.

The meeting adjourned with the intention of gathering in March 2019 again.