Elaboração de materiais informativos para idosos

Abstract

Humanity is living longer, a proof of which is that, for the first time in history, most people have the expectation of living beyond the age of 60. This aging, in addition to other factors such as decreased functional capacity, sedentarism, and social isolation, increase the possibility, when associated, of the elderly person falling and suffering serious injuries, such as hip fracture. Besides the increased incidence of falls, aging also brings another unfortunate reality: mistreatment of the elderly. Based on this, this paper sought to describe the process of developing two informative brochures, one about preventing falls in the elderly, and the other about mistreatment of the elderly, both aimed at promoting the health of the elderly. This work is characterized as a non-experimental descriptive study, of the experience report type, as it points to the process of building an educational tool. A research was carried out in the following databases: SciELO, Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde (BVS), MEDLINE, and also in websites of national and international organizations as reference material for the content of the folders. At the end of the search, 14 materials were selected. A first version of the two materials was prepared. The material about falls contained topics about: the general concept of falling, statistical data, the consequences of falling, the main risk factors, and fall prevention. Similarly, the material on maltreatment was divided into the following topics: definition of maltreatment, statistical data, the consequences of elder abuse, types of violence, factors for predisposing to violence, signs of abuse, and finally, channels for reporting. After they were finished, they were presented to a group of people, among them elderly people, so that they could analyze the quality of these versions. After obtaining their suggestions, a revised version of the materials was prepared, based on the analyzers' suggestions. The modifications made covered, in particular, the textual content, with changes in size, type, color, alignment, and spacing. There was also the addition, modification, and/or removal of certain information, and the same procedure occurred with the colors and illustrations. This last version of the folders was presented to the same group of people. Based on what was developed in the results and discussions of this work, we observed that the goal of developing two folders aimed at promoting the health of the elderly was successful. This educational material can be used not only by its target audience, the elderly, but also by relatives, caregivers and health professionals.