Resumo

INOUYE, Keika; ORLANDI, Fabiana de Souza; PAVARINI, Sofia Cristina Lost  e  PEDRAZZANI, Elisete Silva. Impact of the Third Age Open University on the Quality of Life of the Elderly. Educ. Pesqui. [online]. 2018, vol.44, e142931.  Epub 31-Jan-2018. ISSN 1678-4634.  https://doi.org/10.1590/s1678-4634201708142931.

The education of older adults fosters knowledge leading to a re-dimensioning required to improve the quality of life (QOL) through the concepts of interdisciplinarity, social participation, and the promotion of healthy activities. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of the Third Age Open University (the acronym in Portuguese is UATI) program on the QOL of elderly students. To this end, the scores were measured before and after the intervention (at the beginning and end of the course year) and were compared with the scores of a group not attending the UATI. The data collection tools were as follows: Characterizations of Participants, the Brazilian Economic Classification Criteria, and the Quality of Life Assessment Scale (QdV-DA). All data obtained were entered into the Statistical Package for Social Sciences instrument for carrying out non-parametric statistical analysis. On analysis, the data revealed the following: (a) a positive difference between the total scores of QOL of older adults who were students of UATI before and after the intervention (at the beginning and end of the course year) (Z = −4.541; p < 0.001); (b) after participation in the UATI, the perceptions of QOL were higher for UATI students compared to the group of individuals who did not participate in the program (χ2 = 7.448; df = 1; p = 0.006). The results of this study indicate that participation in the UATI is favorable for enhancing perceived QOL.

Palavras-chave : Quality of life; Aging; Self-assessment; Gerontology; Education.

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