Old age and elderly people: social representations of adolescent students

Authors

  • Maria Célia de Freitas Universidade Estadual do Ceará; Departamento de Enfermagem
  • Maria Assunção Ferreira Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro; Escola de Enfermagem Anna Nery

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1590/S0104-11692013000300014

Abstract

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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Published

2013-06-01

Issue

Vol. 21 No. 3 (2013)

Section

Original Articles

License

RLAE’s authorship concept is based on the substantial contribution by each of the individuals listed as authors, mainly in terms of conceiving and planning the research project, collecting or analyzing and interpreting data, writing and critical review. Indication of authors’ names under the article title is limited to six. If more, authors are listed on the online submission form under Acknowledgements. The possibility of including more than six authors will only be examined on multicenter studies, considering the explanations presented by the authors.
Including names of authors whose contribution does not fit into the above criteria cannot be justified. Those names can be included in the Acknowledgements section.
 Authors are fully responsible for the concepts disseminated in their manuscripts, which do not necessarily reflect the editors’ and editorial board’s opinion.

 

How to Cite

Freitas, M. C. de, & Ferreira, M. A. (2013). Old age and elderly people: social representations of adolescent students . Revista Latino-Americana De Enfermagem, 21(3), 750-757. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0104-11692013000300014