Old age in rural areas: Problems, expectation and solutions recommendation

The proportion of old people in the total population is increasing day by day. Turkey is among the countries in the process of living fastest. The effects of this trend are not only individual but also societal. The old age period is seen as a period which includes the individual conditions of the individuals as well as the social conditions. The effect of the living space on the life of the individual is more pronounced in old age. The disadvantageous position of the individual in education, health and transportation in rural areas causes the old people to spend these periods in different ways compared to those living in the city. This research, which is designed with qualitative research design and where interviews are conducted through interview technique, aims to understand and explain aging in rural areas. However, this study tries to determine the daily routines of the old ages living in the rural areas, the social relations with others, what sevices they benefit from, the opinions about the care and the meanings of the rural areas. For this purpose, data were collected by interviewing 25 old people from three districts. The data were first analyzed with descriptive analysis technique. The other analysis was made by transforming the interviews into narratives. According to the results of the research, the status of being an old people in rural areas is identified with being "alone" and "poor". Maintaining their daily lives in a small environment and space also limits their social network. For this reason, their social interactions are largely with neighbors, children and other individuals in the household. In terms of care, old people f,rstly trust their children and do not want to go to the state institution if they are not in a difficult situation. Since they adopt rural life and spend almost all their lives here, urban life is undesirable by the old ages. Keywords: Care, Old Age in Rural. Aging, Old Age, Sociology of Aging.