Influência de um programa de atividades físicas recreativas na autoestima de idosos institucionalizados

Abstract

Aging is caused by molecular and cellular changes that lead to progressive functional losses of the organism as a whole. The quality of life in third age can be influenced by some aspects such as the physical aspect and the psychological aspect, characterized by losses in self-esteem that is from the positive or negative attitudes that the person has of it self. The recreational physical activities seem to give the individual the opportunity to have a feeling of success which in turn enhances self-esteem. This study aimed to verify the effects of a recreational physical activities program on self-esteem in institutionalized elderly. The search was characterized as descriptive and as a search tool and was used the questionnaire of self-esteem that was developed by Steglich (1978) and applied like individual interviews. To evaluate the variable self-esteem and its status as high or low was made a point of cutting the following the classification (41 - 163 points = low) and (164 - 205 points = high). The treatment was used for descriptive and analysis of the data t test Student independent level of significance (p <0.05). We compared the data of individuals who practiced physical activities called recreational group of assets (GA) that had three months of data and sedentary individuals, called sedentary group (SG). The results showed that the total sample (n = 30) 64% had low self-esteem and 36% self-esteem high. Stratifying the sample by sex and age showed that the (GA) 12.5% of men received low self-esteem, compared with 42.84% of women. Significant difference p<0.05 between the (GA) and (GS) in relation to self-esteem. Concluded that recreational physical activity contributes to the improvement and maintenance of self-esteem in elderly asylum.