Elderly people perception about their own body

Abstract

As one of the most aged populations in Europe (65 years old or more), Portugal with its 21.1% (SAKELLARIDES, 2019) is a country where there are 159.4 elders for every 100 young-old (INE, 2019). Such reality implies challenges that must be attended in order to promote a democratic society, straightening people of all ages (LIMA, 2016). Being a process inherent to human life, aging is experienced by each one in different forms, as it becomes visible through body and appearance (BLESSMANN, 2004). Considering the active aging paradigm as a process of opportunity optimization for health, participation and safety, and as a process of life quality improvement during aging (WHO, 2005), as well of healthy aging (WHO, 2015), we found it was imperious to inquire elderly about their body, keeping in mind the well-being of each individual as well keeping in score each health trajectory. We present an exploratory study, still in development (framed in a comparative study between Portugal and Poland): 19 individuals with 60 or more years old, attending at Senior Universities in North Portugal, were inquired about «how elderly, attending at senior university classes, see their bodies?». Main results showed: i) body perception as a ‘biological evidence’; ii) attendants take care of their bodies; iii) nowadays, elderly have concerns about their appearance; iv) modern focus on physicality is not only a challenge for elderly, but a general concern.