Health and Subjectivity in the Aging Process. Aging in an Old-Age Care Institution (Day Home)

Abstract

In this document, we refer to a community of elderly who live together throughout the day in a shelter for the elderly, located in the city of Toluca, in the State of Mexico, where through a qualitative approach, It is intended to delve into the emotions most present in the community, in the face of the proximity of death [1]. A series of discourses are recovered that represent the axis on which the care and attention actions are structured daily by those who work in the Day Home. The exploration of the recovered discourses contributes to deciphering the preceding meanings, which they take precedence and permeate the daily practice of professionals who are trained every day as caregivers of a population group with requirements and needs, assumed as typical of the aging process, and among which (in addition to physical limitations) the need for dialogue, conversation, exchange of ideas, a place and a space where fears, anguish, memories, unresolved grief, can be released, be heard, find an echo among peers, or in the attentive listen to professionals sensitive to this process. The social construction of old ageIn each culture and historical moment, old age assumes a symbolic representation, inserted in the power relations of which it is a part [2,3]. Rosen mentions that "... the stages of the life cycle depend not only on physiological maturity but, and above all, on the way in which society recognizes, defines and structures such stages in terms of roles and social attitudes" [4]. Thus, while in the thinking of other cultures and / or historical moments, old age embodies wisdom, and gives rise to rituals marked by acts and shows of respect, recognition of authority; the economic rules that currently regulate, not only the production of goods and services, but all of life in its different spheres and representations, SummaryIn the framework of discussion of the social sciences, the approach to old age implies an extremely complex challenge, since it involves different areas and levels of expression and social representation. Doing so from a qualitative point of view contributes to making visible a series of references that have traditionally been unrelated and ignored in the field of research. It is common to approach the phenomenon from a perspective that privileges its treatment and quantitative management, in such a way that both demographic and epidemiological work have remained privileged fields for its study and knowledge; both in academic and work terms and governmental and social responsibility on the part of society organizations, both public and private. Aging has become an extremely complex process, linked to violence and social marginalization; identified with terms such as uselessness, disability, illness, loss of value and social recognition, hence the minimal interest that old people represent socially is neither strange nor fortuitous. One of the most forgotten aspects has to do with mental / emotional health and the supports that are required in the framework of a society that, far from helping us...