title: [The process of senescence and quality of life: the search for literary evidence].
abstract: The numerical reality that the elderly as a whole represent in society, and the means and resources which are mobilised, demand the study of ways and strategies that are capable of improving the quality of life of an elderly person with functional incapacities. A review of literature is outlined, resulting from international electronic databases, with a timeframe from 1998 to 2008. This review has the following objectives: 1--to recognise the diversity of solutions adaptive of the elderly when faced with the progressive loss of physical and social aptitudes; 2--to determine the way in which social and psychological resources act on the negative effects of chronic conditions in the quality of life of the elderly. Results point to researchers'increasing interest in the analysis of the reactions in the elderly when confronting adversity and to reveal the multiplicity of adaptive solutions. Nevertheless the elderly present a great capacity for resilience and, when faced with losses, tend to organise their surroundings in such a way as to maximise the positive effects and reduce the negative.
authors.affiliation: Escola Superior de Saúde do Campus Universitário Jean Piaget de Viseu.
authors.forename: Carlos António
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Laranjeira
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000523:psychology; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology