Coping in health education for the elderly

Abstract

Health education is understood as a practice that seeks to value attitudes and habits that pursue people's wellbeing. In this sense, the acquisition of strategies for coping with death will help to reduce negative consequences linked to experiences close to death, both one's own and others'. The main objective of this research is to analyse attitudes and strategies related to coping with death as a formative element in health education for the elderly. The research has a descriptive and hermeneutic qualitative approach, using the semi-structured interview as an instrument for data collection. When talking about one's own death and over the years, a change of thought and attitude is assumed, based on a greater awareness of it, assimilating it in a calm way; as for the strategies for coping with it, reference is made to the importance of the education received. Working on the subject of death as part of Health Education with older people offers the possibility of managing those situations that may generate anxiety as part of the processes of coping with it.