Concepção de idosos acerca da qualidade de vida na terceira idade.

Abstract

One of the phenomena with the greatest impact at the beginning of this new century is the aging of the world population. This population aging results from a gradual process of demographic transition, which, regardless of whether it is occurring in rich countries or in those considered as poor, changes the age of dying, being a response to changing some health indicators, especially the fall in fertility and mortality. and increased life expectancy. There is a growing change in focus when it comes to quality of life, with the intention of increasingly giving life to years, and considering, in addition to the objective aspects, also the subjective aspects of the theme. The present study aims to analyze the concept of the elderly about quality of life in the elderly, as well as to describe their conceptions in relation to quality of life, in addition to identifying what provides a good quality of life in the vision of each elderly person. As for the methodological path, this is an exploratory study, with a quantitative and qualitative approach. The sample consisted of 20 elderly people who actively participate in the activities of the Pastoral do Idoso of Paroquia São João Bosco in Cajazeiras, PB. For data collection, a semi-structured interview script was used. Quantitative data were analyzed using a simple statistical analysis and qualitative data using the Collective Subject Discourse (Lefreve & Lefevre) technique, respecting the assumptions of resolution 196/96. The results indicate that the elderly's conceptions about quality of life are related to changes in lifestyle, health status they have, financial income, religiosity, family support, from the friends and groups they belong to, in addition to the feeling of negativity that surround the elderly, demonstrated in their central ideas, from their speeches. Evidencing a greater attention focused on the conception of the elderly, with regard to the creation of measures and solutions to improve their quality of life, in addition to public policies that act not only in the elderly, but throughout the course of life.