Práticas estéticas e de autocuidado entre pessoas idosas institucionalizadas : sentidos atribuídos e relações com o bem-estar

Abstract

This study aimed to understand the meanings — understood as the significances, perceptions, and values that institutionalized older adults themselves attribute to their experiences — present in aesthetic and self-care practices, relating them to self-esteem, well-being, and the experience of aging. This was a qualitative, exploratory, and descriptive study conducted in the first semester of 2026 at a Long-Term Care Institution for Older Adults located in a city in Northeastern Brazil. The study included 13 older adults selected through non-probabilistic and intentional sampling, according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria and functional assessment using the Katz Index, which showed independence in the assessed activities for 61.5% of participants and the need for assistance with one or two activities for the remaining participants. Data were collected through individual semi-structured interviews and analyzed using Thematic Content Analysis, according to Bardin. The findings were organized into three categories: aesthetic practices in the institutional routine: maintaining identity and promoting health; self-image, self-esteem, and well-being: meanings attributed to the cared-for body; and the aging body and age-related limitations: coping, acceptance, and (re)adaptation of care. The findings showed that aesthetic and self-care practices go beyond appearance, constituting resources related to the maintenance of identity, autonomy, self-esteem, and well-being, and that the degree of functional dependence was dynamically related to self-care practices and the experience of aging within the institution. It was also observed that the meanings attributed to institutionalization itself varied between adaptation and dissatisfaction with remaining in the facility. It is concluded that aesthetic self-care is an important resource for promoting autonomy, identity, and well-being, and may contribute to more humanized, comprehensive, and sensitive gerontological nursing care for institutionalized older adults.