Linguagem e envelhecimento: práticas de escrita autobiográfica junto a idosos

The Self-Stigma of Hearing Loss in Adults and Older Adults: A Systematic Review

OBJECTIVES

Previous studies have demonstrated that individuals with hearing loss can internalize social stigmas, resulting in several self-perceived negative connotations, such as incompetence, cognitive impairment, and social disability. This systematic review aimed to investigate the impact of the social stigma associated with hearing loss on the self-stigma experienced by adults and older adults.

DESIGN

Combinations of words and appropriate truncations were selected and adjusted specifically for each electronic database. The Population, Exposure, Comparator, Outcomes, and Study Characteristics strategy was used to delimit the scope of the review, bearing in mind the importance of a well-formulated research question.

RESULTS

A total of 953 articles were retrieved from the final search of each database. Thirty-four studies were selected for full-text reading. Thirteen were excluded, and 21 studies were ultimately included in this review. The results of this review were divided into three themes: (1) impact of social stigmas on self-stigma, (2) effect of emotions on self-stigma, and (3) other factors that impact self-stigma. The themes were related to the relationship between the individual and social perceptions reported by the participants with respect to their hearing experiences.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results suggest that the impact of social stigma associated with hearing loss on the self-stigma of adults and older adults is strongly associated with the effects of aging and hearing loss, which may lead to withdrawal, social segregation, and negative self-perception.

Popular education, health promotion and active aging: an integrative literature review

Population ageing is a global phenomenon and requires actions to promote well-being and prevent illnesses and unnecessary hospital admissions. The objective of this study was to identify education and health promotion actions aimed at promoting active aging. An integrative literature review was conducted of relevant articles written in Portuguese, English and Spanish published between 2005 and August 2018 using the following electronic databases and virtual libraries: Lilacs, MEDLINE, SciELO, and BVS. The initial search resulted in 2,069 articles, of which 33 met the inclusion criteria. The analysis showed that the actions identified by the review promoted the adoption of healthy habits and participation of older people, characterizing them as actions that promote active aging. However, the actions were limited almost exclusively to this age group, which may lead to age segregation, and focused on old age rather than adopting a life course perspective of active aging. Despite the importance of these actions, only 11 were evaluated, suggesting that the evaluation of education and health promotion actions to demonstrate effectiveness and promote replication in other locations or services is not very common practice.