A percepção de qualidade de vida de idosos em uma instituição de longa permanência.

Abstract

This study analyze factors that affect the quality of life of the elderly living in a Long Term Care Institution. To build the theoretical framework, issues were discussed related to the elderly and his/her life expectancy, long-stay institution, quality of life, feelings and relationships of institutionalized elderly, senior citizen status, self-care for healthy aging and positive and negative factors affecting the quality of life of such elderly. It is a nature study, featured as quantitative, qualitative and descriptive. Eight men and ten women aged between 60-80 years old participated in the research; 17 of them were retired and only one was not. They are all residents of a long-stay institution in the city of Santa Cruz do Sul -RS. After collecting and analyzing the data, it was found out that many families no longer return to visit them, which triggers a variety of negative feelings. In contrast to these, the positive feelings mentioned by them as motivators stand out the reception from the institution professionals, because the friendship and the bonds formed are able to convey to them safety and emotional comfort, favoring the qualification of the institutionalization. The need for professional nursing to fall within the context of the seniors’ life was remarkable in order to encourage independence, self-care and conservation of the ability to perform daily activities. To this end, institutionalization is a complex topic, because it involves political, social, economic, psycho-emotional and health issues. Based on these, it is worth mentioning that the elderly requires greater attention of workers in long-stay institutions; therefore, it is not enough to live a long life, you also need commitment on improving the quality of life.