Ceren Balaban, Selen Öztürk
Ondokuz Mayıs University (OMU) Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Gerontology and Women and Society Application and Research Center (OKTAM) organized various activities at OMTEL Hotel for healthy and active aging of the elderly population.
OMU Vice Rectors Prof. Dr. Selim Eren and Prof. Dr. Murat Terzi, OMU Secretary General Prof. Dr. İdris Varıcı, Provincial Director of Family and Social Services Tekin Balcı, Director of OKTAM Prof. Dr. Mucize Ünlü, Head of OMU Faculty of Health Sciences Gerontology Department Dr. Esra Erdoğan, academicians and trainers attended the event.
In the event, which aims to increase senior citizens' quality of life and lead a healthier and more peaceful life, activities such as warm-up, acquaintance, yoga, grape exercise, recognize your lemon, and breathing exercises were performed by the OMU Gerontology Department. Elderly individuals had a lot of fun during the activities.
Speaking at the event, Provincial Director of Family and Social Services Tekin Balcı mentioned the following in his speech:
"One of the primary goals of the Ministry of Family and Social Services is to contribute to the healthy and peaceful lives of all elderly people in our country. We have seven nursing homes in our province. We have around 450 elderly people in these nursing homes. We also continue our activities and policies for the elderly who are out of institutional care. As the elderly population increases, we need to develop policies for the elderly in the short, medium, and long term. We are in contact with various public institutions and organizations, especially for the elderly in institutional care, to continue their lives healthily. We would like to thank the University authorities for organizing the event."
OMU Vice Rector Prof. Dr. Murat Terzi said, "As Ondokuz Mayıs University, we care about these collaborations. Eighty elderly people participated in the event. In particular, we have departments that can touch the quality of life of our elderly, such as the Faculty of Health Sciences, Gerontology department, physiotherapy and rehabilitation, nutrition, and dietetics. We brought together our elderly people in the Provincial Directorate of Family and Social Policies and in our city. We use the infrastructure of our university for this event. In this event, we organize activities such as physical therapy, pilates, yoga with them. At the same time, we are building an environment that will enable them to share socially. These and similar activities have a positive impact on the quality of life of people. We know that these activities are very good for our elderly. As a university, we are in cooperation with all units of Samsun. We want to increase the activities. We plan to organize activities not only for the elderly, but also for children and disadvantaged groups in the future. I would like to thank the Provincial Directorate of Family and Social Policies, OMU Health Sciences Gerontology Department, and all academic and administrative staff."
Dr. Esra Erdoğan, Head of the Department of Gerontology at OMU Faculty of Health Sciences, said the following in her speech:
"We organized this event together as OMU Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Gerontology, OKTAM Women and Family Research Center, and Provincial Directorate of Family and Social Services. We aim to unite elderly individuals with nature. We aim to strengthen their muscles, solve their balance problems, and ensure their healthy and active aging. I would like to thank everyone who supported us."
In the event, Dr. Esra Erdoğan's "Raisin" and Lecturer Sevda Burak's "Find My Lemon" mindfulness and staying-in-the-moment exercises focusing on breathing meditation, mindful walking, and body scanning practices were practiced. Dr. Mine Pekesen Kurtça's presentation on "The Importance of Physical Activity in Elderly Individuals" and Dietician Ravza KÖSE's presentation on "The Importance of Nutrition in Elderly Individuals" enlightened the participants.
Within the scope of the project activities led by Vice Rector Prof. Dr. Murat Terzi, Multiple Sclerosis patients practiced yoga.
Patients who were given yoga sessions by Alanya Alaaddin Keykubat University Faculty of Medicine Faculty Member Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ahmet Özşimşek to increase their body awareness such as meditation. The patients' physical functions were also evaluated and processed with movement videos by Sema Gül, Lecturer at the Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation.
The project will continue with online yoga training for two months. Before and after, evaluations of the patients will be made, and the outputs of the yoga activity will be obtained.
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