Sentidos atribuídos por idosos à participação em um grupo de convivência

Abstract

This research aims to analyze the meanings attributed to participation in an elderly coexistence group in the city of Curitiba-PR. Its specific objectives are to know the reasons for the seeking for the coexistence group by these elderly, to identify the practices developed by the elderly in the coexistence group, recognize the meanings attributed to the practices and how they contribute to facing the process. Data collection was performed through sociodemographic questionnaire and a semi-structured interview script, carried out individually, recorded in audio and transcribed. We included 10 female elderly participants from the senior group of a religious community. The data analysis has as reference the discursive practices of Spink and Medrado (2013), which place language as a social practice that provides meaning in daily activities, and for this purpose a table was organized with the themes and their categories and subcategories with the speeches of each interviewee. The following categories were constructed: 1) reasons for the elderly to seek the coexistence group; 2) developed practices and attributed meanings . The results indicated that the losses, the context, the belonging, the activities, the prayers and the religious chants, the social interaction and the transmission and elaboration of knowledge help the participants in facing their suffering and feelings, for example, the exclusion that is still experienced in the current century. Therefore, it is necessary to stimulate the initiative for public policies in order to overcome the needs of these elderly people, as well as an awareness of the population about active ageing. In view of these results, it can be concluded that participation in the coexistence group provides the elderly with a reelaboration of events and experiences, which provides social inclusion with respect and dignity, even in small communities, which occurred specifically in the present research.