Abstract
This research was carried out in a traditional community called Quilombo Rincão do Couro, in Rio Grande do Sul. Approximately 30 families descended from black people who were enslaved live in this community. The research objective was to understand the meanings about aging produced by the narratives of elderly community’s inhabitants and to identify the actions and strategies used by them for local health promotion. The qualitative research had the participation of six elderly people, aged between 61 and 83 years old. They answered an interview with semi-structured script. The interviews were audiographed and transcribed in their entirety, constituting the corpus of analysis. The meanings obtained by association trees of ideas were analysed and generated two thematic axes: 1. Aging senses the chronological age, solitude, life’s events, loss of body functions and illness; 2. Practices for obtaining health: health care through attendance at medical appointments, completion of prescribed treatment and medication; health promotion actions that involve food, hiking and daily activities that are practiced throughout the quilombolas’ community history. The interviewees emphasize the need for a local primary health care unit for the local quilombolas’ family. This research findings highlighted the need to develop psychology research and studies in traditional communities.
Quilombola Health; Aging; Social Psychology; Health Promotion
