Experiências de idosos hospitalizados : a compreensão do fenômeno da autonomia

Abstract

The hospitalization, in a general way, is showed as a single event during the life of the human being. When this happens with the elderly, such situation creates an impact which is even bigger. Related to this question, the present study, which has a qualitative nature, followed the phenomenal approach and had as participants nine elderly people who were hospitalized for more than five days in two big hospitals of the north region in the state of Rio Grande do Sul in April/October 2010. The phenomenology was based in the comprehension of the experiences of the hospitalized elderly related to his or her autonomy during the period in the hospital. It is used the phenomenological interview, having as a main question: What do the elderly think about his or her right of autonomy during his or her hospitalization period? The interviews were accomplished in the houses of the people who participate of the study and they also signed the Term of Free and Clarified Acquiescence. Based in the collect data, the following categories were build: living the exposure, living together with the professional paternalism and being conscious of the relative autonomy. The importance of the obtained data in this study instigates the professionals who work in hospitalized institutions to search for new care strategies, aiming at allowing that the hospitalized elderly can exercise his or her autonomy