Characteristics of elderly people in an area assisted by the Family Health Program in the northwest of Paraná: contributions to nursing care management

Abstract

This descriptive-exploratory research aimed to investigate the elderly population assisted by one Family Health Team of an area of Maringá, a town located in the northwest of the state of Paraná. The results showed predominance of elderly women between 60 and 79 years old, but in the age group of 80 years of age or more, men predominated. Among the women, 81.8% have some kind of income; among the men, this number increases to 91.7%. The most prevalent diseases among the patients of both sexes were arterial hypertension and diabetes, followed by arterial hypertension and diabetes mellitus as "doenças coadjuvantes", corresponding to 4 (12.1%) women. We observed that a large number of records were not filled up in relation to this information: 25% among men and 12.1% among women. Regarding residence, 82.5% of the elderly live with two people or more. Illiteracy was predominant among the men. Knowledge of data about the elderly's characteristics allows the health service to manage the health assistence in a more coherent way, in tune with the clients' reality. We consider that the structure and execution of health policies focusing on the elderly, founded on the diagnosis of specific problems, enable effective actions and results.