Social representations of sexuality for the elderly

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: to know the social representations of sexuality for the elderly, based on the Social Representation Theory. METHOD: study performed in a Basic Family Health Unit in Maracanau-CE, Brazil, with 30 elderly adults. Data were collected from March through April of 2013, using the free word evocation technique. Data were organized and processed using the EVOC 2000.software RESULTS: the subjects evoked 150 words associated with the evocator word "sexuality". Out of these, 43 were different. At the possible core of the representation of sexuality for the elderly, the following words were found: love, affection and respect. Sex, companionship, understanding and coexistence composed the intermediate elements of representation. CONCLUSION: the performed analyses pointed to love, respect and affection as central elements that structured and organized the social representation of sexuality in the elder years for the group studied.