Functionality and disability in old age: to stay still or not to stay still

The goals of this study were to identify how community-dwelling elderly deal with the prospect of disability/functionality and to understand how the sociocultural context modulates this process. The study adopted a qualitative approach in which the signs, meanings, and actions model was used in the data collection and analysis. The study interviewed 57 elders ranging from 61 to 96 years of age and enrolled in the six primary health units in Bambui, Minas Gerais State, Brazil. "To stay still or not to stay still" is the underlying question in functioning and disability in old age. However, staying still is not a matter of individual choice, because the answer depends on the elder's financial, intellectual, and subjective resources and available social support. Staying still also implies a concept of old age inexorably associated with disability, leaving the elderly resigned to their condition; when difficulties increase, their only choice is to "wait for death". Health teams need to interfere in this concept, providing care to older people during their recovery and until the end of life.