Apoio social em idosos institucionalizados

At a time in which the integration of the elderly in formal social responses is often unavoidable in order to respond positively to their physical, psychological and social needs, it becomes pertinent to study the social support perceived by elder in institutional context. After developing the framework, in theoretical terms, of aging and institutionalization, as well as the significance of social support and its operability and characteristics, the methodological framework is defined, based on the characterization of the studied population, method of sample selection, to presentation of the objectives and hypotheses to analyze and the data collection instrument appropriate to achieve those objectives. The collected data analysis allows to determine the differences between the perception of institutionalized elderly on the dimensions of social support, as well as the relationship between socio-demographic variables, duration of institutionalization, elderly adaptation to the institution, their health and religion, with social support and its different dimensions.