Quality of life of elderly people belonging to physical activity/therapeutic groups: an integrative review

Abstract

Population aging is an increasingly present reality. Population projections indicate that in about 20 years, the elderly population will account for more than 30% of the Brazilian population. On the other hand, healthy aging is still a distant reality, a factor that directly impacts the quality of life of this population. The present study aims to carry out a bibliographic survey to analyze the quality of life of elderly people belonging to physical activity/therapeutic groups. A survey was carried out in the bases of scientific literature, listing a total of 11 studies for the composition of this review. Of the studies listed, a low overall methodological quality can be observed. The great variety of interventions carried out with the elderly was noted, in different types of environments: coexistence centers, health units, universities and intradomiciliary. The analysis of the works allowed us to observe that the most varied types of environment, frequency and types of activities performed resulted in an improvement in the perception of quality of life in this population, whether reported by the elderly or evaluated by specific scales. Therefore, it is important to carry out health promotion activities with this population, aiming to promote healthy aging.

Keywords: Quality of life; Elderly; Physical activity group; Therapeutic group; Primary Health Care.