Representações Sociais do Cuidado do Idoso

The variables that interfere in the care of the elderly are related to norms, attitudes, values and beliefs; what in this research was studied through social representations. This article aimed to understand the social representations (SR) about the care of the elderly for elderly people and members of their social network. It derived from the second study of the thesis entitled “Elderly care: social representations and practices” by the first author, of an empirical nature, through field research, with a descriptive, comparative cross-sectional design. Forty elderly people and 40 members of the social network of the respective elderly participated in the study. Data collection took place through semi-structured interviews, associated with the episodic interview technique. The interviews went through hierarchical text classification (IRAMUTEQ), and socio-demographic data by statistical description (SPSS). Regarding the social object “caring for the elderly”, representational dimensions were identified, namely: “satisfaction of basic needs, burden, financial expenses versus obligation and retribution”. There was a primacy of pragmatic aspects to the detriment of affective ones, that is, mostly the meaning of caring for the elderly was permeated by the practice, which suggests the need to reinforce caring practices of an affective nature and not only of a technical nature.