As part of the International Senior Tourism and Home Care Service Project implemented in Bodrum, Turkish nurses and health teams will receive training in elderly care and Japanese language lessons in Japan.
It was reported that Japanese and Turkish doctors, nurses and tourism professionals will work together on the project designed to cater to elderly Japanese tourists, a country with the oldest population in the world, to maintain their treatment while they enjoy extended vacations in Bodrum.
The first step was taken in Bodrum for the International Senior Tourism and Home Care Service Project developed by the Muğla Metropolitan Municipality Health and Social Services Department Home Care Services Unit and the Bodrum Life Foundation in collaboration with the Hapinesu Foundation, an organization renowned for their superior senior citizen services in Niihama, Japan.
In the project supported by the international KYOSEI Foundation in Japan, professor Keiichiro Kondo, a representative of the Hapinesu Foundation, came to Bodrum upon invitation from Dr. Alev Şahin, a board member of the Bodrum Life Foundation.
Kondo received information about health investments, private hospitals and elderly projects in Bodrum, and visited Nevide Toksal, 91, a retired lawyer who lives with her daughter and grandchild in Bodrum and receives ongoing home health care services, accompanied by Şahin and her health team. Kondo chatted with Toksal for a while and closely examined her health records.
Turkish nurses to be trained in Japan
Kondo said by receiving education in Japan on elderly care, Turkish nurses and health teams will benefit from their experience. "Bodrum is a place where the elderly can spend year-round holidays and live a peaceful life. Senior Japanese patients could come here often to get good health care," Kondo said. "There are 27 institutions in our foundation that serve seniors. I believe that the Turkish nurses that study in Japan and learn our language will serve Japanese patients well in both Japan and Turkey."
Şahin, Bodrum's regional head of the Muğla Metropolitan Municipality Health and Social Services Department Home Care Services Unit, said there are about 800 elderly and bedridden patients registered throughout the Bodrum peninsula that receive home care services. Şahin also pointed out that there is a serious nursing home shortage for the elderly, especially for bedridden patients, in Muğla.
Japanese seniors to take long vacations in BodrumExplaining that as a metropolitan municipality, they provide home health, cleaning and nursing services for at least 80 patients every month, Şahin said Japan has the largest elderly population in the world with 50 years of experience, and the reason why Kondo was invited to Bodrum and held the first meeting here.
"We will provide health and language training to nurses and health teams from Muğla by sending them to Japan for one or two years. Bodrum's weather is ideal for long-term holidays, especially for elderly patients," Şahin continued. "For this reason, by welcoming the elderly and bedridden Japanese patients in Bodrum with our educated staff, we will have opened a new page by combining health and tourism for the Turkish-Japanese friendship while making a significant contribution to the senior tourism sector."
Tufan Turanlı, a board member of the Bodrum Foundation for Culture and Arts (BOSAV), which has been running the Ertugrul Frigate Project in Japan for about eight years, said with the Ertuğrul Project, they have accelerated Turkish-Japanese friendship continuing for a century.
"Our Japanese friends have always valued the friendship and fellowship of the Turks from past to present and have agreed to work on a joint project that will entrust us with their elderly," Turanlı said, adding that there are thousands of people in Japan who are over 100 years old and in good health. He stressed that the most important step of this project is the Turkish nurses' training in Japan so that people can continue with their health checks while on holiday in Turkey. "Bodrum's tourism professionals will provide significant support for this project," he said.