From social representations of old age to experiences: impact on support in old people house.
Résumé
Quantitative and qualitative study carried out in 11 old people houses from Limousin and Reunion island.
50 interviews conducted (and recorded) with the elderly, health professionals and health students.
Primary objective
Contribute to the improvement of knowledge about social representations and experiences of old
age among (i) health professionals, (ii) health students and (iii) the elderly.
Secondary objective
1. To study the health professional representations of the professional practices with the elderly.
2. To study the student representations of the professional practices with the elderly
3. To study integration, organization, housing, concept of isolation, place of the family, proposed
activities among elderly living in old people house,
Following the analysis, the central themes discussed are:
Life before entry/Reason for entry in old people house– Choice/period of integration
Importance of lifestyle/history of life/Wealth
Motivation to work with the elderly
Benefits of the elderly for health professionals
Dependency/autonomy/liberty ratio
Relationship: family/health professionals, the elderly/families
Relation to the body
Representations of the old people house
Activities in old people house
Relation to time
Experiences lived by the elderly (rules, liberties, exits)
Expected benefits
A better understanding of social representation, experiences of old age in old people house.
To our knowledge, no study has described the social representations of the health students on the elderly
during their studies.
The results of this research will allow us to discuss about the role, the place of the elderly and health
professionals in this structures. Finally, suggestions for areas of improvement will be suggested for the
support of the elderly.