Youth Participation in Home Care for the Elderly

Abstract

This article aims to define the participation of young people (ages 14 through 19) in elderly care and to analyze young people's thoughts about aging, care, and intergenerationality. Study quantitative-qualitative cross-sectional, included 343 youths with elderly care participation. The major activities were bureaucratic (12.2%), medications and food (14.3%) and companionship (14.6%). The perception regarding " taking care of someone " was positive in 80.8%; when the genders were compared, men and women were found to view caregiving roles differently (p=0.048). The young people providing home care for the elderly is increasing in contemporary society, highlighting the necessity of gerontological education.