A descriptive study was carried out in the Family Medical Office # 16 located in the Popular Council "Simón Bolívar", in the months from September 2008 to May 2009. For this, 200 people were selected from among young and old adults a population of 50 families from which we took 25 families of said CMF as a sample. The semi-structured interviews provided data on age, sex, occupation, and school level.
All the data we managed to obtain were tabulated by a simple random method. It is also possible to determine the satisfaction of the interviewees in their interpersonal relationships, highlighting acceptance, cooperation and mutual help. Reference is made to the image that young people and older adults have of their family and their interest in cooperating with it. We were also able to find out where young people think that older adults are most needed and where they in turn think that young people are most useful and necessary.
Development
Individual aging has been present as an object of study in all stages of social development and has always been of interest to philosophy, art and medicine. However, during the present century we are witnessing a unique situation: more and more people overcome the chronological barriers that man has defined as a stage of old age; Population aging has become a challenge for modern societies today.
Cuba is already an example of a developing country with a significant aging of its population. 12% of Cubans are 60 years or older, a figure that will increase to an estimated 20.1% in 2025.
In relative terms, the proportion of older adults on our island is 7% higher than the average for the countries of the South (underdeveloped) and also higher than 10% for the world this year.
Our country spends large sums annually on pensions and social assistance, despite how severely damaged our economy has been in recent years. There are around 35,792 older adults in the country who receive social assistance, and of these, more than 9% live alone. 71.5% of the elderly population that is hospitalized in the nursing homes that now exist in the country, have physical or mental disabilities and it is estimated that approximately 22% of those who live in the community have some degree of disability.
All of the above, associated with the low value of traditional ways of measuring health in the elderly and the percentage of needs recognized in them, have determined the need for a more accurate assessment of this age group, both social and health, to give them adequate answers, taking into account our reality and international experience.
This need to develop policies for the care of the elderly led to the decision to increase efforts so that Cuba complies with the principles and recommendations on aging at the United Nations assembly, done in New York in 1992 and thus provide quality of life. optimal for our older adults. Among these efforts, the creation of the Iberoamerican Center for the Elderly (CITED) and the implementation of the community-based Comprehensive Care Program for the Elderly stands out.
The elderly population today offers greater diversity than it did at any other stage in human history. The main differences reside in the economic situation, the social and family framework, the health, the personal and professional history of each individual, their past and present relationship with education and culture, etc.
The form and meaning of these relationships within the family vary from one society to another, depending on the cultural, social and economic background, but remain essential for the maintenance of care, communication and service provision in different generations.
Naturally, these exchanges work both ways: personal contact between children and their elders is for each other a means of individual fulfillment of education and creative activity.
It is therefore unanimously recognized that the mutual respect between generations, necessary to reaffirm family solidarity, is based on the moral and philosophical values of the world's societies and cultures.
Our society has the responsibility to worry from the preventive, therapeutic and rehabilitative point of view of the elderly and try to break with the traditional stereotype of considering the elderly as helpless and useless. To do this, it must carry out a series of actions aimed at using its capabilities and potential in performing an active role in society.
In accordance with the role that older adults must occupy in our country and the irreplaceable place that the family occupies in the formation and education of the new man and in relations between future generations, we carry out this research with the aim of determining the peculiarities of the interrelation between the older adult and the younger members of the family.
Interfamilial relationships are determined by multiple factors: some of a physical physical nature and others of an emotional psychological nature, on which the strengthening and harmony of family relationships and the well-being and safety of older adults depend to a greater or lesser extent. A relationship of mutual help, based on the activities of daily life, is almost always established between the senescent and his family, which allows him to continue feeling useful.
Our country needs the rich experience of the youngest and the resistance and creativity of the youngest, hence our interest in knowing what they think of each other, so that together we can contribute the best, the sweetest and most tender that We have inside, only in this way can we enrich the sap of our lives, maintain our historical cultural traditions and continue to develop our Socialist Revolution, that is why we ask the youngest to remember that: "living old is fine, but it is also important to live fully".
Taking into account all of the above, we pose the following scientific problem: How to strengthen interpersonal relationships between young people and the elderly in family medical office # 16 of the Popular Council "Simón Bolívar" in Yaguajay ?. Proposing the following objective: to diagnose the state of interpersonal relationships between young people and the elderly in family medical office # 16 of the Popular Council "Simón Bolívar" in Yaguajay.
Let us give them the place they deserve to occupy in our lives and in our society.
To do this, 200 people selected from young and old adults from a sample of 25 families, selected from a population of 50 families of said CMF, were interviewed semi-developed.
These people are young and old adults of both sexes respectively, and these interviews collect demographic data and other questions that provide answers to the objectives we set for ourselves. The data that was obtained was processed through the simple random method. The data was tabulated by microcomputer.
An analysis of the behavior of the interviews with respect to age and sex is made. It was divided by age groups, and the highest incidence in those between 21-29 years was reported in young women with 28% (25 cases) and in the case of older adults of the same sex, those between 66-75 years and those over 75 years with 17.9% (16 cases). On the other hand, those included in the male sex report 27% (31 cases) in the group over 30 years old, and in older adults there is a greater coincidence in the age group of 66-75 years with 26 respondents for the 23.4% (table 1).
|
Table 1. Relationship of interviewees in terms of age and sex |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Source: Interview |
Table 2 shows the occupation and schooling of the interviewees, which shows that 75% of young people are workers and that 54% have passed the medium level (pre-university). The elderly (61%) are retired and only 12% work, while 70% only reached the primary level and 3% the university level.
Table 2. Occupation and school level of the interviewees
|
Occupation |
School level |
|||||||
|
I studied. |
Work |
AC |
Jub |
Prim. |
Sec. |
Preu. |
Univ. |
|
| Young boys |
twenty |
75 |
5 |
- |
- |
13 |
54 |
33 |
| Elderly |
- |
12 |
39 |
61 |
70 |
twenty-one |
6 |
3 |
Source: Interview
79% of young people and 84% of older adults consider their family to be good, 21% of young people and 16% of older adults think that their family works regularly. These opinions of both parties are based on the fact that the family lacked union, mutual understanding and respect. All the young people interviewed said that they liked helping their family and that they did it (Table 3).
Table 3. View of the interviewees of her family, their interest in helping her and their family relationships
|
His family is |
He likes to help her |
It does |
Relates to |
|||||||||
|
B |
M |
R |
Yes |
Not |
Yes |
Not |
Bro. |
Hi. |
Abu. |
Pad. |
Nie. |
|
| Young boys |
79 |
- |
twenty-one |
100 |
- |
100 |
- |
75 |
- |
48 |
81 |
- |
| Adult M. |
84 |
- |
16 |
84 |
16 |
84 |
16 |
54 |
88 |
- |
- |
42 |
Source: Interview.
In the case of older adults, 16% said they did not like helping their family and therefore did not. Regarding who they were most related to, 81% said with their parents, 75% with their sisters and only 48% said with their grandparents. For their part, older adults said they related more to their children (88%), 54% said that with their siblings and only 42% with their grandchildren.
In Table 4 we talk about direct interpersonal relationships between young people and older adults. We see that, according to their opinion, 71% accept and understand older adults, 82% think they help them with something and 88% say they like to help them.
Table 4. Interpersonal relationships between interviewees.
|
Communication acceptance |
Feel help you in something |
I would like to help you |
||||
|
Yes |
Not |
Yes |
Not |
Yes |
Not |
|
| Young boys |
71 |
twenty-one |
82 |
18 |
88 |
12 |
| Elderly |
55 |
Four. Five |
77 |
2. 3 |
82 |
18 |
Source: Interview.
For their part, 55% older adults accept and understand young people, 77% feel that they help them in something and 82% say they would like to help them.
Table 5 shows the existing opinion about the place where the cooperation of older adults is needed or is necessary. It is relevant that 58.5% of young people and 69.5% of older adults consider that they are more necessary "to run errands" and that for the education of the children and that of the young people themselves such low values are obtained.
Table 5. Places where the cooperation of older adults is needed or is needed.
|
Young boys |
Elderly |
|||
| Needs |
Not. |
(%) |
Not. |
(%) |
| For study |
- |
- |
10 |
12.1 |
| To educate children |
26 |
31.6 |
42 |
51.2 |
| To run errands |
48 |
58.5 |
57 |
69.5 |
| To work |
- |
- |
13 |
15.8 |
| To take care of the house |
29 |
35.3 |
3. 4 |
41.4 |
| To teach them how to face and live life |
39 |
47.5 |
44 |
53.6 |
Source: Interview.
Discussion of results
Among the young people interviewed, there is a predominance of the female sex, in the age group of 21-29 years.
Among the older adults interviewed, those in the 66-75 age group of the same sex appear more frequently.
The role that our Socialist State has played in the development of our society has managed to raise the educational standards of our people and thus guarantee a better future for the country.
The interviewees have a good vision of their family, their interest is to help them and they tell us who they like to interact with the most. The denial of family support was supported by adults, since the youngest did not understand them, and they did not have the ability to listen and because they were "old", they found their ideas outdated.
The relationship between young people and older adults does not exceed 48%, here is our demand for the family to play its role, constituting the best guarantee for the physical and spiritual well-being of its older members, which will achieve guarantee the full development of all its members and the possibility of permanence of the elderly, but not as isolated beings, but becoming the fundamental provider of protection and the promoter of the elevation of self-esteem of the elderly that allows them to actively participate in home life.
Direct interpersonal relationships between young people and older adults are important. According to the results, we can say that opinions issued by the interviewees reaffirm what has been described by other studies, where they state that the image that a person usually has of another, is structured thanks to the synthesis of many elements, within which communication and the type of activity that is shared and carried out.
The evolution of the image that one has of others (physiognomy, actions, feelings and ways of thinking) is determined by human relationships or by the absence of them, which causes forms of behavior and thoughts in accordance with the evaluations and experiences that have accumulated each other.
Based on the above, we must bear in mind that man is the only living being who lives in society and who is socially related and that this results in his health ultimately being conditioned by social phenomena and factors, more Still, if what is valued is family health.
The cooperation of the elderly is essential, fundamentally, their participation in spheres such as education, companionship and affection in the family, must be properly valued.
Conclusions
Therefore, we must remember that:
"Human beings form three great battalions and the true wealth of the world depends on them. The first is the battalion of the youngest learners, the second is the battalion of middle-aged people who continue and perfect past achievements. The third is formed by those who learned first, made their own contribution to maintain and improve the conquests of the past and who are now free to fulfill, if they so choose, with their individual obligations, with a small group or with the entire society that the kept up".
1. By this we conclude that 28% of the female respondents were between 21-29 years old, 27% of the male sex were in the age group over 30 years old. Older women of the female sex predominated in the age group of 66-75 years and in those older than 75 years, both with 17.5% and in the male sex with 23.4% those between 66-75 years.
2. 75% of young people work and 54% have a medium school level. 61% of older adults are retired and 70% only reach the primary level.
3. 79% of young people consider that their family is good, 100% say that they would like to help them and that they do, and 81% report that they relate more to their parents.
4. Young people interviewed in 71% say that they accept and communicate with older adults. 82% feel that older adults help them and 88% express a desire to help them.
5. Of the older adults interviewed, 55% communicate and accept young people, 77% think that young people help them and 82% want to help young people.
6. The young people stated that they needed the cooperation of older adults in 58.5% (48 interviewees of those who reported that they help them) to "carry out errands". For their part, older adults agree in this opinion, in 69.5%.
recommendations
1. Improve the poor formal education of young people that affect interpersonal relationships.
2. Rescue the role of the family in society.
3. Develop strategies that allow us to reconsider and promote new social and family values in line with the current development of our society.
4. Search for new ways that guarantee and promote the rescue of our traditions.
Annexes # 1
Semi-structured interview
Youth
1. Age: ______
2. Sex: ______
3. Occupation: ______
4. School level: ______
5. Do you feel satisfied in your relationship with the elderly? But because?
6. Do you think that there is good communication between them and you? But because?
7. Do you accept the elderly with their way of life, customs and character? Yes ______ No______ Explain______
8. Do you feel that they help you in anything? Yes ______ No______ In what? ______
9. Would you like to help him? Yes ______No______ In what? ______
10. Your family is B______ R______ M______ Why? ______
11. Do you enjoy cooperating with your family? Yes ______ No ______ Does it? But because?
12. Do you relate more to: Brothers______ Parents______ Grandparents______
13. Check where you think your cooperation is most needed:
To study ______ To work ______
To educate the children______ To take care of the home______
To teach them to face and live life______
Appendix 2
Semi-structured interview
Older adult
1. Age: ______
2. Sex: ______
3. Occupation: ______
4. School level: ______
5. Do you feel satisfied in your relationship with the elderly? But because?
6. Do you think that there is good communication between them and you? But because?
7. Do you accept the youngest with their way of life, customs and character? Yes ______ No______ Explain______
8. Do you feel that they help you in anything? Yes ______No ______ In what? ______
9. Would you like to help him? Yes ______ No______ In what? ______
10. Your family is B______ R______ M______ Why? ______
11. Do you enjoy cooperating with your family? Yes ______ No______ Does it? If not______
12. Do you relate more to: Children______ Grandchildren______ Siblings______
13. Check where you think your cooperation is most needed: To
study______ To work______ To educate the children______ To take care of the house______
To teach them to face and live life______
Bibliographic references
- Prieto Ramos O. To give more life to his years. Gerontology. Rev Avances Méd Cuba 1996; 3 (7): 26-8.Whitcomb PW. That magnificent legion of old men. UNESCO Courier 1982; (Oct. 21): 35.Núñez de Villavicencio F. Medical psychology. Havana: Pueblo y Educación, 1987; vol 1: 239.Rocabrunos Mederos JC, Prieto Ramos O. Gerontology and clinical geriatrics. Havana: Medical Sciences, 1992; vol 1: 311.
Bibliography
Núñez de Villavicencio F. Medical psychology. Havana: People and Education, 1987; Vol. 1: 239.
Prieto Ramos O, Rocabrunos Mederos JC, Prieto Ramos O. Gerontology and clinical geriatrics. Havana: Medical Sciences, 1992; Vol. 1: 311.
To give more life to your years. Gerontology. Rev. Avances Méd. Cuba 1996; 3 (7): 26-8.
Whitcomb PW. That magnificent legion of old men. UNESCO Courier 1982; (Oct. 21): 35.
