By U.S. or Canadian standards this community would not come close to meeting code, yet it seems to work well enough to stay full in one of the largest and most sophisticated cities in Turkey.

By Steve Moran

I am just returning from my Turkey/Greece vacation. I had hoped to get a chance to visit a couple of senior living communities in each country. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen; however, I did get a chance to visit one community — a 25 bed senior living community in Turkey. The pictures will likely tell the best story, but here is how it went:

  • It was a little tough because the manager spoke almost no English and I spoke zero Turkish.

  • The place was an old converted home on three stories. The basement level is not used by residents. The first level, not quite ground level, is used by those who are least ambulatory.

  • It was very clean and pleasant, and the residents seemed happy.

  • They allow visitors just 5 days per week, with the other 2 days dedicated to cleaning.

  • As you can see in the photos they have a second floor where residents live . . .  and no elevator, just steps. There is a railing that keeps residents from inadvertently falling down the steps. They told me that a staff member always helps residents up and down the steps.

  • They charge about 3,500 Turkish Lira per month, per resident — which is about $1,200 US dollars.

  • The resident profile ranges from heavy care, independent, to nursing home level of care.

  • They are always full.

  • They have a nurse on staff 24/7. They also have a physician(s) who visits 3 days per week.

  • They have a fairly long length of stay. While I could not get an exact number, it sounds like 2-3 years.

  • They have no private rooms and residents bring almost no personal belongings with them, except clothing.

  • There are only common bathrooms.

  • There were just two televisions in the whole community — one in the living room and another in one of the resident’s rooms. I asked about this and he told me they are just not that interested in television.

  • They do have an emergency call system.

I would add that by US or Canadian standards this community would not come close to meeting code, and — even if it met code and could get a license — no one would move to it. Yet, for all of that, it seems to work well enough to stay full in one of the largest and most sophisticated cities in Turkey. It is also located in an extremely upscale neighborhood, suggesting this is the standard — for at least this city.

Here are the photos: