Centro de convivência de idosos: uma abordagem de estimulação cognitiva e psicossocial

Objective: To describe the activities in the workshop “Deu Branco” and investigate their quality and effect through the perception of participants. Methodology: The workshop “Deu Branco” was an open group of cognitive and psychosocial stimulation held in a Community Center for the elderly in the first half of 2010. The \udmeetings last approximately one hour and had an average of eight participants. When the meetings ceased, the participants were asked to respond to a semi-structured questionnaire, developed by the interns, regarding the quality of each activity and their perception of cognitive improvement with the participation in the workshop; in addition to the questionnaire, the interns performed clinical observations regarding the performance of participants. Results and discussion: The activities were rated by the participants as good, very good, or excellent. Improvement in \udmemory performance was reported by all subjects. According to the clinical perception of the interns, the activities contributed to improve the cognitive, psychological and social performance of the participants during the meetings. Conclusion: The open group experience proved to be a good resource of occupational therapy to promote health for the elderly, as well as a possibility of early cognitive intervention for this population