GONÇALVES, L. A. D.; http://lattes.cnpq.br/5369923897948161; GONÇALVES, Leilly Anne Dantas
Abstract:
The increase in life expectancy has brought a new scenery to the world population, a big rise
in number of elderly. This contingent of elderly people follows, nevertheless, the statistics of
chronic-degenerative diseases growth, which makes the aging a not always healthy process. In
this sense, the elderly population is often composed of dependent people, resulting from lack
of political and social planning to regard this population overall and steady growth. The aim
of this study is to analyze the different perceptions of the elderly residents at Instituicao de
Longa Permanencia Abrigo Luca Zorn de Cajazeiras- PB, about the aging process. This is a
descriptive exploratory study with a quantitative approach, carried out at Luca Zorn in
Cajazeiras- PB. Twenty elderly contributed to the investigation. All participants responded to
a semi-structured interview containing questions about aging process, where the outcome of
the research was provided in charts and graphs and analyzed in light of relevant literature. The
profile of institutionalized elderly shows that the majority are female, aged between 50 to 110
years, with the highest rate of widows, with elementary education. From the interviewed
people, 70% define aging as good, 50% reported feeling well in a long-stay institution, 65%
miss their old life, 65% do not receive family visits, 55% engage in physical activity in the
rest home, 99% do noj perform activities in the institution, 99% claim to follow the medical
recommendation and 100% participate of Church mass carried out in the rest home. We
conclude that it is notorious the importance of the study on aging, mainly about elderly who
live in long-stay institutions, as well as the health professionals preparation for the changes
that occur throughout life, whether physiological or pathological, helping the elderly to have a
better life with them and promoting self-care.
