Satisfaction with the provided care and happiness of institutionalised senior citizens

Abstract

Satisfaction and happiness are determining aspects in the healthy and rewarding aging process. The recourse to the institutionalisation of the elderly is an increasingly frequent reality in developed societies, with several consequences in the life of the elderly. In view of this transition of contexts experienced by the elderly, it is opportune to assess satisfaction with the care provided and the level of happiness, thus, the objective was to analyse the satisfaction with the care and happiness of institutionalized elderly people. An exploratory, descriptive and inferential study was carried out, in a sample consisting of 61 institutionalized elderly people in four Residential Structures for Elderly People, in the municipality of Santa Marta de Penaguião. A questionnaire survey was applied in order to collect data from the Sociodemographic, Situational, Family and Clinical context. To assess the level of Satisfaction with care and Happiness, the following scales were used: Oxford Happiness Scale and the Residential Structure Satisfaction Assessment Scale for Elderly People developed by the Social Security Institute. It was concluded that the majority of the sample is female (75.4%), the predominant age group is between 85 and 89 years old (29.5%) coming from the village (77%) and widowers (65.6%) without ever attended school (54.1%). Regarding the type of retirement, the elderly receive pensions for age limit and spouse’s pension (31.1%) and spouse’s pension and disability(31.1%), with the majority(62.3%) receiving monthly between 251 and 500 euros and are satisfied with this value (57.4%). In general, the results obtained through the scales allow us to conclud that the participants, mostly, are satisfied and happy with their experience of institutionalisation. The aging of the population is, above all, a success story that stems from medical, technological and social advances.