Abstract:
The getting old process with wellness is a continous learning process with daily search
for life sense and existencial renovation. This dissertation discusses the perspective of the so-called
lifespan development theory, which understands human development as a process that takes place
throughout life. It does so by establishing a dialog with elderly people who live in two
neighborhoods located in the outskirts of Porto Alegre, the capital of the state of Rio Grande do
Sul, Brazil. The lifespan development model advocates a diluted view of chronological age and is
not coupled with normative stages. It is determined by biological, sociocultural, historical and
personal aspects. According to this model, human development occurs at a different speed and
rhythm for each elderly person. Growing old in a satisfactory manner implies the use of three
processes: selection, optimization and compensation. These are strategies for choosing goals and
actions designed to achieve them that stimulate the elderly in their capacity for resistance, plasticity
and flexibility. They are management strategies for a life with well-being. The author made use of
qualitative research and the phenomenological approach when interviewing 30 senior citizens
between 62 and 82 years of age who get together to socialize in groups or receive health care
services at stations maintained by the Moinhos de Vento Hospital Association. They all live in the
neighborhoods called Morro da Cruz and Ilha Pintada. Most of them are women, 68% live with
family members, sharing small houses, 44% are illiterate or can hardly read. The number of
children is high among the elderly with less education: up to 14 children. According to their own
perception of their aging process, most of them think that they are in a better situation now. They
feel happier and less tired, although almost all of them report one or more pathologies and comorbidities.
The study examined the use of selection, optimization and compensation strategies by
the elderly in their daily lives, showing the importance of the choices made by most of them, in
spite of the constraints imposed on them by the poverty they experience in socioeconomic and
cultural terms. When they are able to choose and optimize some meaningful action related to
socializing, working or learning, they show more happiness and satisfaction with their lives. They
are masters at compensating because their situation of deprivation is part and parcel of their life
experience. Understanding aging as a constant new beginning that opens up possibilities of making
choices in old age is a contribution toward turning the elderly into citizens.
