Life satisfaction of elderly individuals within the framework of social change: The case of Çorum province

With the advancing age of individuals, changes and some losses may occur in their lives. These changes include physical, social and psychological changes. These changes can negatively affect the lives of elderly individuals. Changes in technology day by day and developments in health are very effective on the changing lives of elderly individuals. There have been great changes in societies after the industrial revolution. The people most affected by this change have been the elderly; the extended family structure has changed to a nuclear family structure, women have entered the working life, the experiences of the elderly have not been utilized and young family members have withdrawn from providing care services to the elderly. In the aftermath of this social change, some questions sought to be answered on whether elderly individuals experience generational conflict with the next generations, whether they are satisfied with their lives and their perceptions of quality of life. In order to seek answers to these questions, it was aimed to analyze and evaluate the perceptions of ''Life satisfaction of elderly individuals within the framework of social change'' of elderly individuals aged 65 and over who came to the Geriatrics service of Hitit University Çorum Erol Olçok Training and Research Hospital, Ministry of Health. A questionnaire on demographic information, socioeconomic level and health was administered to 200 elderly individuals aged 65 years and over who came to the Geriatrics service of Hitit University Çorum Erol Olçok Training and Research Hospital of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Tur. As a result of the study, it was seen that social change affects the elderly individuals the most. The cultural changes in societies, such as the transition from the extended family model to the nuclear family model, and the entry of women into business life have caused the elderly to go out of the tradition they are used to, so the elderly individuals have been negatively affected by this situation. Another striking result is that elderly individuals are not far from using technology. It is seen that they mostly prefer applications such as social media and websites. It has been observed that especially female elderly individuals are more interested in technology than men.