Doença, envelhecimento ativo e fragilidade : discursos e práticas em torno da velhice
Arquivos
Data
2014
Autores
Barbieri, Natália Alves 
Orientadores
Sarti, Cynthia Andersen
Oliveira, Régia Cristina
Tipo
Tese de doutorado
Título da Revista
ISSN da Revista
Título de Volume
Resumo
A presente pesquisa tem como tema central a constituição dos discursos sobre a velhice e o envelhecimento no Brasil. A análise e a metodologia foram orientadas pela Psicanálise e pela Antropologia, que se articulam na Saúde Coletiva ao considerarem os fenômenos humanos e sociais a partir do registro simbólico. O trabalho de campo envolveu como estratégias metodológicas o exame de documentos e publicações científicas, a observação de apresentações orais em eventos e congressos dedicados à velhice e ao envelhecimento e a realização de entrevistas com profissionais protagonistas desse campo. O contato com um universo mais amplo que a geriatria a gerontologia durante o processo investigativo suscitou a compreensão e a definição da noção de ¿Campo do Envelhecimento¿, como um território que abrange diversos personagens, disciplinas, abordagens, instituições e discursos. Foi possível, assim, demonstrar a existência de movimentos dissidentes, disputas por prestígio, competência e autoria de conceitos e apropriação de discursos. Neste campo ¿ heterogêneo ¿ prevalecem discursos que visam positivar o envelhecimento, tentando dissociá-lo das imagens de doença, pobreza e abandono. O ¿envelhecimento ativo¿ é representativo desse esforço, ao alçar a atividade como um bem maior: desenvolvido na Organização Mundial da Saúde, passa a ser a principal referência para as políticas públicas no Brasil, sendo apresentada em diversos dispositivos legais. A análise possibilitou localizar o envelhecimento ativo como sucessor do discurso higienista-preventivista do final do século XIX e início do século XX, ao privilegiar a prevenção e a promoção da saúde como atitudes que devem ser assumidas pelos indivíduos, sendo estes vistos como os principais responsáveis por sua saúde. Ao defender a atividade como uma positividade que deve ser estimulada na velhice, este discurso acabou por estabelecer uma polaridade, em que a fragilidade passa a ser associada a uma falha moral e não a uma condição inerente ao envelhecimento e à vida como um todo. Por não conseguir romper com as noções de normalidade, saúde e doença na qual se baseia a biomedicina, esse discurso acabou por recriar a noção de normalidade em outros termos. A tentativa de positivação foi observada prioritariamente entre os profissionais, e não entre os idosos, indicando dificuldades desses em lidar com a fragilização inerente ao processo de envelhecimento.
This research is focused on the creation of discourses on old age and aging in Brazil. The analysis and methodology were driven by Psychoanalysis and Anthropology, which are articulated in Public Health considering the human and social phenomena from symbolic registers, assigned by social rules. The fieldwork involved, as methodological strategies, the examination of documents and scientific publications, observation of oral presentations at events and conferences dedicated to aging and interviews with key professionals in this field. The contact with a wider universe than geriatrics and gerontology during the investigative process raised the understanding and definition of "Field of Aging" as a territory that covers several characters, disciplines, approaches, institutions and discourses. It was possible to demonstrate the existence of dissident movements and disputes over prestige, competence and concepts and discourses authorship. In this heterogeneous field, prevail discourses aimed to positivity aging, in an attempt to separate it from the images of illness, poverty and abandonment. The "active aging" represents this effort when it raises the activity as a greater good: developed by the World Health Organization, this discourse became the main reference for public policies in Brasil, as can be seen in various legal devices. The analysis made possible to locate it as the successor of the Hygienist-Preventative discourse of the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, by prioritizing prevention and health promoting, that must be met by individuals, these being primarily responsible for their own health. In defending an activity as the positivity that should be encouraged in old age, this discourse ultimately established a polarity, in which frailty becomes associated with a moral failure and not as a condition inherent to aging. By not being able to break with the notions of normality, health and pathology on which biomedicine is based, that discourse eventually recreated the notion of normality in other terms. This attempt of positivization was primarily observed among professionals, and not among the elderly, indicating the difficulty of those in dealing with the embrittlement related to the aging process.
This research is focused on the creation of discourses on old age and aging in Brazil. The analysis and methodology were driven by Psychoanalysis and Anthropology, which are articulated in Public Health considering the human and social phenomena from symbolic registers, assigned by social rules. The fieldwork involved, as methodological strategies, the examination of documents and scientific publications, observation of oral presentations at events and conferences dedicated to aging and interviews with key professionals in this field. The contact with a wider universe than geriatrics and gerontology during the investigative process raised the understanding and definition of "Field of Aging" as a territory that covers several characters, disciplines, approaches, institutions and discourses. It was possible to demonstrate the existence of dissident movements and disputes over prestige, competence and concepts and discourses authorship. In this heterogeneous field, prevail discourses aimed to positivity aging, in an attempt to separate it from the images of illness, poverty and abandonment. The "active aging" represents this effort when it raises the activity as a greater good: developed by the World Health Organization, this discourse became the main reference for public policies in Brasil, as can be seen in various legal devices. The analysis made possible to locate it as the successor of the Hygienist-Preventative discourse of the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, by prioritizing prevention and health promoting, that must be met by individuals, these being primarily responsible for their own health. In defending an activity as the positivity that should be encouraged in old age, this discourse ultimately established a polarity, in which frailty becomes associated with a moral failure and not as a condition inherent to aging. By not being able to break with the notions of normality, health and pathology on which biomedicine is based, that discourse eventually recreated the notion of normality in other terms. This attempt of positivization was primarily observed among professionals, and not among the elderly, indicating the difficulty of those in dealing with the embrittlement related to the aging process.
Descrição
Citação
BARBIERI, Natália Alves. Doença, envelhecimento ativo e fragilidade : discursos e práticas em torno da velhice. 2014. 199 f. Tese (Doutorado em Ciências) - Escola Paulista de Medicina, Universidade Federal de São Paulo. São Paulo, 2014.