[The institutionalized elderly. How do we perceive old age?]

It is a commonly-held belief to associate old age with physical deterioration, loss of mental capacity and a downhill slide toward death. Although one cannot deny some aspects of truth in this belief, what is certain is that the perception which each person holds about old age, as well as each person's real life situation, will make each individual live this stage of life in very diverse manners. We may affirm that quality of life is a criteria set and evaluated by each human being, and in order to evaluate it, one's personal opinion and satisfaction are indispensable. What does quality of life mean for an elderly person who is institutionalized? What do the business administrators, managers and caretaking personnel understand quality of life to be for an elderly person who is institutionalized? Are there differences perceiving quality of life between personnel and elderly? The authors carry out this study in order to answer these kinds of questions by means of a descriptive and transversal method; one objective is to evaluate the perception of quality of life for institutionalized elderly held by each of the aforementioned groups. The study group for this research project was composed of elderly people living as permanent residents in an institution and the business administrators, managers and caretaking personnel in three geriatric centers in Navarra; there was a total of 90 people in the sample group.