OLDER ADULTS IN ETHNOGRAPHIC PRACTICES: AN INTEGRATIVE REVIEW OF BRAZILIAN THESES

Abstract

This integrative literature review aimed to identify the contributions of ethnographies undertaken with older adults in theses of postgraduate programs in Brazilian Higher Education Institutions. Data collection occurred in June 2012 in the Scientific Journals Gateway of the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel. A total of 11 theses was selected, using the terms ethnography and older adult, and inclusion criteria. Three categories emerged: The ethnographic methodology as a strategy for describing cultural aspects related to old age; Older adults and social participation, mobilizing research problems; and, Older adults’ health in the ethnographic perspective. The methodology seeks to deepen the knowledge of the culture, through detailed descriptions of older adults’ daily lives, relationships which are established, and meanings attributed to the experiences of health and chronic illness. Ethnography has contributed to the analysis of forms of the sociocultural context, which are reflected in the reading of the everyday and in the ways of experiencing and expressing old age.

Keywords

• Older adult
• Culture
• Review