title: [Long-term care institutions for the elderly and their structural coupling with the surrounding social systems].
abstract: This study was performed in six Long-Term Care Institutions for the Elderly (LTCIEs) that helped low-income senior citizens in three regions of the country. Its aim is to examine how LTCIEs' internal organizational system maintained structural coupling with surrounding systems. The data were collected through interviews and observation. The analysis was based on concepts of Luhmann's Social Systems Theory. As a result, the rules of belonging did not encourage aid proposals that stimulated independent life and the individuality of residents. The structural couplings with the external environment generated negative resonance within LTCIEs, such as the lack of links to programmatic actions of public primary health care, inability to maintain a multiprofessional staff, inability to fully adapt the infrastructure, and inability to bring reçatives closer to the institution's daily routine. As a positive aspect, the staff was empowered by the presence of students and their professors.
authors: Faculdade de Enfermagem, Nutrição e Fisioterapia da Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil. marionc@pucrs.br
authors: Marion
authors: M
authors: Creutzberg
authors: Lucia Hisako Takase
authors: LH
authors: Gonçalves
authors: Beatriz Lara
authors: BL
authors: dos Santos
authors: Silvana Sidney da Costa
authors: SS
authors: Santos
authors: Marlene Teda
authors: MT
authors: Pelzer
authors: Marilene Rodrigues
authors: MR
authors: Portella
authors: Helenice de Moura
authors: Hde M
authors: Scortegagna
authors: Rosalina Aparecida Partezani
authors: RA
authors: Rodrigues
authors: Sueli
authors: S
authors: Marques
authors: Zenilda Nogueira
authors: ZN
authors: Sales
authors: Andrea dos Santos
authors: Ados S
authors: Souza
authors: Angela Maria
authors: AM
authors: Alvarez
authors: Jordelina
authors: J
authors: Schier
authors: Edite Lago da Silva
authors: EL
authors: Sena
authors: Edmeia Campos
authors: EC
authors: Meira
mesh_terms: D001938:Brazil; D003159:Community-Institutional Relations; D006707:Homes for the Aged / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration; D006801:Humans; D007326:Institutionalization; D007373:Interinstitutional Relations; D008134:Long-Term Care; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D011203:Poverty; D012931:Social Environment; D013598:Systems Theory