Promovendo a saúde e a cidadania do idoso: o movimento das universidades da terceira idade

Résumé 0

"Beginning in the 1970s, the “U3A” (University of Third Age) movement has evolved all over the world. Its main concepts and practical experiences represent an innovative way of pro- moting the health of aging people, based on a concerted interdisciplinary effort toward the full insertion of senior individuals as active citizens in their respective societies. The U3A movement aims the promotion of senior citizens’ physical, mental, and social health, profiting from avail- able resources and expertise accumulated by the universities. In Brazil, there are nowadays over 150 of such programs. The mains results of such effort have been highlighted and debated, foster- ing new perspectives for elders’ social participa- tion and improving the health condition and quality of life of those attending such programs. This paper discusses the relevance of the U3A movement as a key strategy for the betterment of senior population life conditions. We present and discuss a concrete experience carried out by the Rio de Janeiro State University (UERJ) since 1993, in the frame of Brazilian and international achievements. Based in three conceptual pillars – interdisciplinarity, social participation, and health promotion, UERJ launched a comprehensive pro- gram, tailored to the specificities of its clientele. ¿"