Introduction:

Population aging has a great impact on health services. This entails challenges for Cuban society, especially in the care of the elderly for the family, the community and the state in general. This requires the expansion and reorientation of social, sectoral, health care and health programs.

Objective:

To characterize the health situation of the elderly treated in area II of the municipality of Cienfuegos.

Methods:

A bibliographic review of the subject was carried out and a descriptive cross-sectional study was designed using primary documents from area II of the municipality of Cienfuegos "Policlínico Cecilio Ruíz de Zarate", in 2018. Questionnaires and interviews were applied to health personnel and older adults and covert observation in different health services and clinics.

Results:

An opinionated sample of 85 men and 92 women aged between 60 and 89 years was used. The interviewees were predominantly between 60 and 69 years of age, most of them were retired, with chronic diseases. The main condition was arterial hypertension, although many have comorbidities, so their drug expenses are high. Existing gaps in health services were observed.

Conclusions:

For most of the elderly, there is a lack of medical check-ups, and few field visits, so they only get checked when they feel sick. The elderly reported good satisfaction with the health services received, although there are some specialties that have a shortage of qualified personnel, which undoubtedly affects the quality of care.

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