The Social Capital of the Elderly at the Outpatient Clinic of the Unirg University Center in Gurupi to Brazil

Abstract

Social capital, people´s interaction capacity, is a good parameter to measure life quality in groups, elderly people included. Current analysis evaluates the social capital of elderly people at the outpatient clinic of the UNIRG University Centre in Gurupi TO Brazil. A descriptive and quantitative research was undertaken with data collection on 217 elderly people to whom a standard questionnaire was applied to assess the sample´s social capital. Most of the elderly people (65.90%) belonged to the 60 -70-year-old bracket; 61.80% were female; 95.10% belonged to social classes C and D; 31.30% were illiterate; 42.40% were hypertensive; 26.27% had spine conditions; 23.04% were diabetics. Evaluated social capital of the elderly showed that 50.23% participated in groups which undertook social activities and interaction; 86.20% thought that one should be suspicious of everybody; 58.50% answered that most probably they would involve themselves in community issues to solve or help resolve them; 92.60% stated that TV was their source of information on the government; 79.72% said they voted in the last political election; 45.16% confessed they were very happy people. Results show that the population under analysis had poor life quality levels and low social capital. No government-promoted programs or activities exist for the establishment of social networks for the increase in local social capital.