Saúde, espiritualidade e idosos no contexto da Covid 19: um estudo a luz da teoria das representações sociais

• Autor(a) principal: Silva, Haydêe Cassé da
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Tipo de documento: Tese
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Biblioteca Digital de Teses e Dissertações da UFPB
• Texto Completo: https://repositorio.ufpb.br/jspui/handle/123456789/29553
• topic: Coronavírus - Idoso; Espiritualidade; Religião; Representações sociais; Saúde; Coronavirus - Eldery; Spirituality; Religion; Social representations; Healty; Coronavirus - Anciano; Espiritualidad; Religión; Representaciones sociales; Salud; CNPQ::CIENCIAS DA SAUDE::ENFERMAGEM

Introduction: Healthy aging is a major challenge in the face of adversities, as seen in the Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Right from the start, there was concern about the frailty of the elderly, resulting in stricter recommendations for protecting physical health. In this way, these people needed to readjust and adapt to the unexpected situation by depriving them of daily routines, modifying behaviors to face the repercussions arising from the emergence of COVID-19 in the world. In this context, the use of the Theory of Social Representations (TRS) allows understanding the meanings about health and spirituality elaborated by elderly people, who have experienced this pandemic. This study is justified by its relevance in strengthening research on the subject, pointing out contributions to society, managers and public health policies. Objective: to analyze the social representations constructed about health and spirituality by elderly people in the context of COVID-19. Methodology: An exploratory field study was carried out with a quantitative and qualitative approach for data analysis. The sample consisted of 50 volunteers selected for convenience at the Paraíba Institute of Aging of the Federal University of Paraíba. Data collection took place from May to August 2021, using the interview technique, from an instrument containing: (1) Free Word Association Test (TALP), (2) semi-structured interview script. The participant was previously approached for clarification about the study, participation and authorization with scheduling of a meeting in the virtual environment. The collected data were distributed in two corpus for processing by the IRaMuTeQ® software, using the single, multiple and prototypical frequency analyzes for the TALP; Descending Hierarchical Classification and Similitude Analysis for the textual corpus. Then, the data obtained were analyzed by the structural and procedural approach of TRS. Results: it was evidenced that the social representations of elderly people built on health and spirituality were structured in the connection with God through the exercise of faith to maintain physical and mental well-being in conflicting or unknown circumstances, caused by the existence of COVID-19. People who was interviewed associated the importance of maintaining the existing health condition before the pandemic with the physical, mental and spiritual strategies used to mitigate the repercussions arising from isolation and social distancing. The representational image of COVID-19 was anchored in fear, triggered by the possibility of hospitalization and death of them or their loved ones and friends, adopting attitudes of acceptance of recommendations for health protection. Knowledge about the disease occurred throughout the year 2020-2021, based on information published in the media, forming a concept that the virus does not exclusively affect the elderly with lethal consequences. Conclusions: the social representations about health elaborated by the subjects were structured, categorized and shared, using physical exercise and religious/spiritual coping. It is suggested the expansion in future research with larger samples and different comparative groups that can strengthen the understanding of beliefs, ideas and practices in different subjects.