[Colombia: effects of a structured educational program on the attitude of the elderly to old age]

Twenty-nine elderly were assessed on the attitudes toward aging before and after attending to an Estructural Educational Program (EEP), with a participative methodology. The program's objective was to strength and reorient the attitudes of aceptation, integration and communication. Subjects have been part of an urban sector of low social economical status from Cali, Colombia. A quasiexperimental research design, with a convenient sample was used. It was applied a questionnaire to each subject to collect biopsychosocial data, a Lickert scale before and after the EEP to measure attitudes, as well as an observational guide to measure individual and group behavior before and after each class. A statistical significative growth was observed on the attitudes toward integration, aceptation and communication (t22 = 2.46 p less than 0.05). Data indicated that elderly attitudes can be strengthened and reoriented through a EEP adjusted to the biopsychosocial characteristics of the group.