Gerontogeriatric Nursing in Portugal: an emerging practice

Abstract

The progressive aging of the population worldwide has been highlighted in several areas of knowledge, to find more comprehensive and effective answers for the problems related to this phenomenon. In this perspective, it becomes imperative to understand how the Gerontogeriatric nursing has evolved in Portugal and deepened its meanings in contexts so diverse. Given the complexity and diversity of the health-disease process in aging, it is necessary to seek innovative and humane ways of caring for the elderly and their families. These forms of caring require nurses’ commitment to personal, professional and social transformation, to accompany the constant transformations of the contemporary societies. However, to integrate the various dimensions of the elderly and understand the limits and peculiarities of this phase of life, the practice of care should be seen in an interdisciplinary approach, in its different ways of looking at the reality. If joint efforts were made to the development and implementation of policies and programs towards the appropriate assistance and promotion of the human dignity and social cohesion, aging would be viewed as an opportunity rather than a problem.