Bem-estar psicológico de idosos residentes em cidades das macrorregiões de saúde do Estado da Paraíba

Abstract

Human aging causes biological, social and psychological changes, which have a relevant impact on the subject's aging process. The way each individual experiences these changes varies according to different factors such as social, environmental and economic. In this context, there is the psychological well-being, which is an important aspect for a successful healthy aging, whose evaluation considers different dimensions of the subject's life. Before the multidimensional characteristic of psychological well-being, the importance of its evaluation in individuals residing in different locations has been observed. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the understanding and evaluation of the psychological well-being of elderly residents in the host cities of the health macro-regions of the state of Paraíba. To obtain the data, a descriptive research was carried out, with quantitative and qualitative approach with primary data collection. The following variables were evaluated: psychological well-being and sociodemographic aspects (sex, age group, color self-reported, number of rooms per household, number of residents in the household, socioeconomic level, marital status, education, monthly family income per capita.). The understanding of psychological well-being was investigated through semi structured interviews. The assessment of psychological well-being was carried out through application of the Psychological Well-being Scale (SPWB). The qualitative information was submitted to thematic categorical analysis proposed by Bardin. The quantitative data was obtained using Office Excel® version 2207 statistical software. The data collection began after due approval of the research project by the Commission on Ethics in Research of UEPB (Opinion number 5,113,119). As a result of COVID-19 pandemic, data collection was performed by telephone call. After permission, the interviews had their content recorded, from the reading of the Free and Informed Consent Form, with subsequent indication of acceptance by the participant, until the data collection itself. Were interviewed 34 elderly (85% female) with an average age of 65.9 years-old. It has been obtained as a result that half of the interviewees presented a score of the assessment instrument of psychological well-being below 4.94. As for the qualitative evaluation, there were several influencing aspects of the self-assessment of psychological well-being, with special emphasis on interpersonal relationships. Therefore, studying the psychological well-being of elderly people from different locations allows a better understanding of the phenomenon studied, enabling valuable contributions to mental, elderly and psychological health.