SOCIAL REPRESENTATION AND ACQUISITION OF HEALTH INFORMATION FOR SENIORS TO ADOPT HEALTHY HABITS.

The communication has been a resource very used by the health institutions to educate aged about prevention of illnesses and the promotion of the health, because this group is the one that more demands for the sanitary services. This descriptive study with qualitative boarding tried to understand and to analyze the social representations on the acquisition of information in health and the influence habits of the aged. Six aged people of high middle class, who have health insurance, were interviewed. Specific software to analyze the answers was used. The social representation that emerged of the study shows that look for information improves the quality of life, this means, the knowledge helps how to take cares of the health. However, the majority of the interviewed people get these information throught magazines, TV and family doctor, probably because of the easy access. Even though they know that information makes possible better cares with the health, this does not make them look for knowledge more often. These results show that to know better subjects as health and the aging it will contribute for education programs and health promotion.