Programa Cidades e Comunidades Amigáveis à Pessoa Idosa (OMS): uma análise da pesquisa diagnóstica com a população idosa no município de Itapejara D'Oeste - PR

Abstract

Currently, several cities around the world are part of the Global Network of Cities and Communities Friendly to the Elderly, of the World Health Organization (WHO), most of which belong to countries in Europe and some in Latin America. InBrazil, currently, some cities located in the South region have received this certification, such as Porto Alegre (2015), Veranópolis (2016) and Esteio (2018), in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, and, in the state of Paraná, the city de Pato Branco (2018),becoming the first to join this network. Still, in this state, in 2019 and 2020, 11 other cities met the requirements and are awaiting international certification, due to the pandemic of COVID19, among which ItapejaraD’Oeste and Santa Tereza do Oeste stand out.“Listening” to the elderly population, represented by municipal diagnostic research, carried out by collecting data from the municipal management and from the elderly population, using quali and quantitative instruments, is one of the stages of the cities' international certification process who are interested in joining the Global Network of Cities and Communities Friendly to the Elderly of the World Health Organization (WHO). For this, WHO recommends the application of a Research Protocol, using the method explained in the Global Guide Friendly City of the Elderly (WHO, 2008). In view of this scenario, the present dissertation aimed to analyze the diagnostic research carried out with the elderly population of the Municipality of ItapejaraD`Oeste-PR,as a city that seeks to integrate the Global Network of Cities and Communities Friendly to the Elderly, WHO. For this, based on the protocol presented in the Global Guide Friendly City of the Elderly (WHO, 2008), we sought to analyze how it was adapted and applied in the municipality in question so that it could correspond to the reality of the place. The research carried out was characterized as a descriptive case study, with a quantitative and qualitative approach. The data were collected from documents,minutes and reports generated at meetings of the team executing the ItapejaraD`Oeste Amiga do Idoso project and from records in field diaries carried out by the researcher, as a participant in the different moments that made up the local diagnosis. For data analysis, documents generated from different moments of local diagnostic research were contemplated, based on the Content Analysis method (BARDIN, 1995). The results showed that the diagnostic research, applied in ItapejaraD’Oeste, made it possible to know the opinions and demands of the elderly population. In turn, meetings for training and meetings to clarify doubts, held with the executing team, were essential to ensure ethics and confidentiality in relation to the data collected. The participating elderly people, their caregivers and family members were satisfied with the opportunity to participate in the research; as the stages of the diagnosis progressed, the participants were more confident in exposing their opinions about the city and, furthermore, that it has a good potential for the international certification of an age-friendly city, due to the fact that required by WHO / PAHO.