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Old age and elderly people: social representations of adolescent students
Maria Célia de Freitas1, Márcia de Assunção Ferreira, Maria Assunção Ferreira
1Universidade Estadual do Ceará, Departamento de Enfermagem, Fortaleza, CE, Brazil. celfrei@hotmail.com
Objective:
to know the main elements of social representations about elderly people and old age among adolescents at a public high school.
Method:
172 adolescents between 14 and 19 years of age participated. The free evocation of words technique was applied through the terms elderly and old age.
Results:
The main elements of the representations significantly designed for elderly people were: respect and disrespect, 78; experience, 49; care, 32; wisdom, 23; fragility, 19. For old age: disease, 51; retirement, 27; experience, 27; wisdom, 19; wrinkles, 17. The social representations of adolescents are strongly marked by physical, psychological and social aspects, with positive and negative aspects about old age.
Conclusion:
Participatory health education activities are needed to make adolescents critically reflect on and the condition of elderly people in contemporary society.
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