Minister of Family and Social Services Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş said, “The Ministry has provided services to a total of 3.407 citizens within the scope of the pilot application Home Care Support launched in Adana, Ankara and Izmir last year to improve the quality of life of persons with disabilities having full dependency as well as to support and strenghten their families.

Minister Göktaş stated that care services for persons with disabilities and older persons were developed and diversified in line with the family-oriented social service policy, and that in line with the community-based care approach, the Ministry focused on person-oriented service models ensuring that persons with disabilities and older persons were cared for without leaving their social environment.

Noting that the Ministry provided integrated home care support, social assistance and day care services in addition to institutional care in a complementary manner, Göktaş said: “Last year, the Ministry launched the pilot application Home Care Support in Adana, Ankara and Izmir to improve the quality of life of persons with disabilities having full dependency and being cared for at home as well as to support and strengthen their families. Families who are beneficiaries of Home Care Support benefit from the application carried out to reduce the need for institutional care and improve the community-based care services.”

The needs of persons with disabilities and their families in terms of support have been identified

Göktaş stated that the team consisting of care personnel, nurses, social workers and psychologists employed within the scope of the application were trained by the Ministry's experts and academicians, and that needs analyses were conducted in the households visited.

Minister Göktaş continued as follows:

“In the first phase, the Ministry surveys a total of 1100 households benefiting from Home Care Allowance in 3 pilot provinces. Approximately 600 persons with disabilities in need of services have been provided with a care plan, and families' needs for education and psycho-social support have been identified. The households identified by the Ministry are  then visited by teams from different branches employed in each province within the scope of the project, and self-care services are provided by the care personnel of persons with disabilities under the supervision of nurses. Training, counseling and psycho-social support services for caregivers are provided by nurses, psychologists and social workers. Following the implementation launched last year, the Ministry has currently served a total of 3407 citizens in Adana, Ankara and Izmir.”

“The aim is to spread the service model throughout the country”

Minister Göktaş stated that with all these services, the Ministry contributed to the improvement of the quality of life of persons with disabilities continuing their lives at home or with their families and said, “The Ministry provides information, counseling and guidance services for families. This enables them to cope with the challenges, to reduce feelings of burnout, and to take the right steps in terms of how to proceed with the care, rehabilitation and education of persons with disabilities in their care. As a result of the positive feedback received from the persons with disabilities and their families to whom services are provided within the scope of the Home Care Support Program, the aim is to make the service model widespread across the country. Thus, the Ministry will contribute to the policy of 'strong family, strong society' by additionally supporting and strengthening the families supported by the Home Care Allowance payment.”