Qualidade de vida e atividade

: um estudo em idosos de Vila Nova de Cerveira

Abstract

In a moment when European population, and the Portuguese one in particular, is ageing a lot, it’s necessary to think about this fact. The present year was proclaimed European Year of Active Ageing and Intergenerational Help. Thinking about population’s ageing, we’ve made an analysis of the existing work about this theme in Psychology, including our work in the perspective of Life Cycle Psychology, developed by Paul Baltes and co-workers. It stands that development extends to the entire life cycle, and that the subject has an active role in his own ageing process. Purposes: Having these theoretical assumptions we’ve wanted to evaluate perceived quality of life by elderly from Vila Nova de Cerveira, our place of work and residence. More specifically, we’ve tried to know if activity degree really influences elderly’s perceived quality of life. Methods: To make the study presented in this paper we’ve obtained a sample, divided in three groups, with different activity patterns: one more active (students from Unisénior of V. N. Cerveira), one intermediate (residents in rural areas without social activity/participation) and one less active (Centro Social Paroquial de Gondarém Home Support Service’s clients). We’ve passed to the three groups the Assessment of Quality of Life (AQoL), an instrument which evaluates the perceived quality of life by the subjects, including five dimensions: health/illness, independent life, social relationships, senses and psychological well-being. Results: After statistical analysis of the results, we’ve identified significant differences between the more active group and the other two groups, which have no significant differences between them. These results confirm that more activity leads to a better perception of quality of life. The overall perceived quality of life was good, what shows the influence of individual experience and expectations in the success of ageing and perceived quality of life. It has been shown as well the usefulness to improve elderly quality of life of institutions as Senior Universities and Home Support Services.

Date of Award	Jul 2012
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	António Manuel Fonseca (Supervisor)