Abstract:

This study includes the precautions and suggestions that can be taken in terms of health policies in the provision of home health services in Turkey, in line with the evaluation made with the data of 10,553 patients who received home health services in the last 10 years in Diyarbakır but whose services were terminated for various reasons. The study is retrospective and cross-sectional. Descriptive statistical analyzes were used in the analysis of demographic information such as age groups, gender, medical diagnosis status, and the time of service provided. According to demographic data, the average number of diagnoses of the patients whose service was terminated was 2, and the average duration of the service they received was 581 days. While 53.7% of the patients receiving the service are women, 66.2% of the patients are over 65 years old and their average age is 63. As of the ICD-11 diagnosis types, 23.83% of the patients were diagnosed with Mental and Behavioral Disorders, 26.29% were diagnosed with Circulatory System Diseases, and 11.61% were diagnosed with Musculoskeletal and Connective Tissue Diseases. The fact that the individuals receiving services within the scope of home health services have increased from the young population to the elderly population reveals the importance of the service provided and the scope of the service should be expanded. While providing services according to the diagnosis groups of the patients, the participation of cardiology, orthopedics, and psychiatry specialists in the service team is of great importance in terms of delivering the service to more patients. The high number of diagnoses received by female patients necessitates addressing possible problems in women's access to health services before receiving home health services. In the light of the findings obtained, it is necessary to implement the services more effectively for the home health services, which are of great importance in terms of country health policies, to be effective and accessible, for example, different specialties (physical therapist, cardiologist, etc.) will be able to provide the services that should be provided in-home health more effectively, therefore, the hospital environment will not be occupied by providing services to the patients in the home environment.