Strategies to collaborate with physical independence and autonomy of the hospitalized elderly

Resumo

The aim of this research was to present strategies as identified by undergraduate students and health professionals towards promoting, maintaining, or maximizing physical independence and autonomy of hospitalized elderly citizens. It was a quantitative descriptive, exploratory work performed in the countryside of São Paulo State by 117 undergraduate students and health professionals on non-verbal communication capacity in gerontology. The results were organized and grouped in three categories: related to technical knowledge (63.2%); related to ethical values (30.7%) and related to communication (27.4%). It was so concluded that all participants succeeded in identifying one or more strategies aimed at providing the elderly with broader independence and autonomy. It was made clear that the importance of technical and gerontological knowledge was the condition which contributed the most to that identification.