Abstract

MUNOZ MUNOZ, Carmen. SUBJECTIVE WELL-BEING AND SOCIAL ACTIVITY WITH HISTORICAL MEANING FOR SENIOR CITIZENS. Hacia promoc. Salud [online]. 2013, vol.18, n.2, pp.13-26. ISSN 0121-7577.

Objectives: To identify the effects of social activity with territorial meaning in a group of senior citizens living in Valdivia (Chile), and to favor a setting for social interaction among them using participative and problematizing strategies. Method: The article presents the results obtained in a participatory action research project with thirty senior citizens over a period of fourteen weeks, carried out in 2012 in the Valdivia community, Los Rios Region, Chile. The integral diagnosis results carried out through individual interviews, a 10 sessions cognitive stimulation workshop (registered in the biographic memory), individual intervention and Historical-collective reconstruction of the territory they belong to through four interviews in depth, are synthesized. Results: The intervention shows a characterization of the participants according to their connection with social support and, the sense of wellbeing it provided. The paper also reconstructs the history of territorial unity as the product of reminiscence and biographic memory. Conclusion: Systematization of the action research indicates how social activity in senior citizens has a positive effect on their welfare as long as it provides a territorial meaning which deepens the sense of belonging and life in community.

Keywords : Aging; senior citizen; health of the elderly; long-term memory; social participation.

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