“Melhor idade”? Será mesmo? A velhice segundo idosas participantes de um grupo de atividade física

Abstract

The aim of this study was toverify the perceptions of elderly women participating in a group of body practices/physical activity (BPPA) about life in old age, abput the meanings of retirement and about the role of this group in their lives. A qualitative approach was used, following a semi-structured script for interviewing 12 elderly women from a BPPA group in a Basic Health Unit in a city in Paraná. Elements of the contente analysis tecnique were used in the data analysis. It was observed that in the perception of the interviewees, in the category “Life in the ‘best age’” there is na ambiguity of feelings and perceptions: drop in quality of life due to illness, loneliness and lack of autonomy, but the retirement provisions allowed financial autonomy. In the category “Expectations regardins retirement”, they referred that the reality was diferente from what they imagined it would be, mainly due to the worsening of the physical and clinical condition and the need to provide care to other family members. In the category “Perceived changes in life after participating in the BPPA group”, they reported na improvement in the clinical health condition, redution of body pain, improvements in sleep in addition to belonging to the group and joy in living. The findings of this study may be useful for a deeper understanding of the multiple meanings of old age, avoiding simplistic conceptions that seek to atribute to this phase of life a sense of better or worse than other moments in the life cycle.