Fatores ambientais na promoção da qualidade de vida de idosos residentes no Condomínio Cidade Madura

Abstract

Introduction: Based on a scenario of increasing life expectancy and, consequently, a long living population, issues related to active and successful ageing and to the quality of life of elderly people are being more discussed on the academic and scientific fields, as well as on the development of public policies that meet the features of such a peculiar audience. It is worth mentioning that the environment is one of the factors that is related to people's quality of life, therefore the understanding about support and environmental quality becomes of fundamental importance for interventions and also for improvement of conditions and life quality of the population, in particular the elderly due to the particularities of the aging process. In this sense, condominiums for seniors are presented as a public policy in response to this request. Objective: This study aimed to analyse the interaction between environmental factors and the quality of life of elderly living in Cidade Madura Condominium. Methods: The research was characterized as a descriptive, analytical and quanti quantitative approach. 76 elderly residents participated, in a non-probabilistically and conveniently way, for at least one year in the condominiums of the Cidade Madura Program, located in the cities of João Pessoa, Campina Grande and Guarabira. The instruments used for data collection were: sociodemographic and personal projects questionnaires, a structured interview for environmental perception and quality assessment and the WHOQOL-Bref for quality of life assessment. Quantitative data were analyzed using the SPSS statistical program and qualitative analysis was performed through thematic categorical analysis. Results: The average age detected in the study was 71.01 years (Min = 60 and Max = 93), with a predominance of: women (56.6%); married marital status (31.6%); low educational level; minimum monthly wage (76.3%) and retirees (73.7%). The WHOQOL-Bref results showed that the overall average Quality of Life found was 73.85 (SD = 45.51). The social domain presented the highest average for QoL assessment (M = 70.06; SD = 20.37) and as a counterpart, the environmental domain had the lowest average for QoL assessment (M = 59.99; SD = 14, 54). The analysis of Personal Projects resulted in 10 activity categories: Affective Bonding, Domestic Activities, Leisure, Commitment Activities, Religion, Health, Gardening, Information / Distraction, Solidarity, and Relaxation. Such activities reflect on a global well-being, understanding the environment (physical and contextual) as an important ally in the accomplishment of these activities. The analysis of the structured interview resulted in 3 categories: structure / satisfaction; socialization and perception of the place of residence (previous and current) and quality of life. The environment strengths and weaknesses have been highlighted, with a prevalence of environmental qualities that positively reflect in the quality of life of the interviewed elderly people. Safety, tranquility, socialization, accessibility, low financial cost were expressed as environmental potentialities that reflect overall well-being and better quality of life. However, weaknesses of environmental quality such as lack of urban accessibility, inefficiency and insufficiency of health services, commerce, public transportation were also mentioned by the elderly, which interfere with the assessment of quality of life and environmental support. Conclusion: The elderly surveyed considered the condominium environment “Cidade Madura” as favourable to the promotion of good quality of life and a successful aging.