E quando a dependência chegar? Um estudo das organizações disponíveis para idosos em uma cidade média no interior paulista.
Abstract
Due to the rapid aging of the Brazilian population, the number of programs for the
elderly is increasing. The objectives of this study were to: (a) analyze the organizations
that offer services for the elderly, in a city in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil, and (b)
identify the support network used by dependent elderly. In the conduct of this study, all
ethical guidelines that apply to studies with humans were followed. The organizations
were identified using municipal registers, and others sources as Snow Ball Technique,
and interviews were conducted with the head administrators. The organizations were
grouped in four categories: long-term care (n=6); culture, leisure, sports, education and
social activities (n=27); healthcare (n=21); and referral (n=1), totaling 55 organizations
that offer services for the elderly. An advertising folder containing all pertinent
information was produced and was it was presented to the Municipal Elderly Council in
order to be advertised and upgraded. The greatest numbers of elderly were involved in
cultural, leisure, sports, education and social programs, a category that emphasizes
activities that promote social integration. However, in a two years period, of the 2183
registered participants, 225 withdrew (150 women and 75 men). To better understand
this, interviews were conducted with program directors and service users in the highest
use category, along with other documents. The most frequent reasons for withdrawal
were illness (n=42) and death (n=42). Thus, in-depth interviews were conducted with
elderly people, who withdrew due to illness, and their family members in their home.
It was observed that the aggravating stages of some diseases caused an increased
difficulty of instrumental activities on a daily basis contributed to some limitations, and
among them the difficulty of continuing participating in the program. Issues like financial
difficulties, adapted transportation and cultural values also were relevant to the
organization of the family dynamics of interviewed people. It was verified that the most
utilized support network by these people was the family. Caring places in the health area
were also used in the treatment of the pathologies. New organization alternatives in terms
of elderly caring need to be created to attend the population that grows and ages day after
day. On the other hand, it is necessary to improve the conditions of existing caring
institutions with the focus on team and qualified work in order to educate the population
facing the aging process.