Introduction:

Population aging has a great impact on health services, which requires expanding and reorienting health care.

Objective:

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

Methods:

A mixed descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out in area II, in the municipality of Cienfuegos, belonging to the "Cecilio Ruiz de Zarate" polyclinic, in 2019. An instrument was designed that was applied to 177 elderly, 92 women and 85 men, permanent residents in the area. Covert observation was carried out in different health services to assess aspects related to care for the elderly.

Results:

The majority were between 60 and 69 years old, retired, with chronic diseases, mainly high blood pressure. They require medicines with high expenses. There are gaps in health services for the care of this group in consultations that have a high level of activity. The health needs resolved were dental prostheses and field visits by stomatologists. There are problems with orthopedic footwear due to delays in processing, and a limited variety of this footwear.

Conclusions:

Older adults have more than one chronic disease; Many do not undergo medical check-ups at the established time, they are checked only when they are sick. There is a lack of personnel to care for them, although there are places available. They do not have priority for attention in the services and do not receive home visits from the doctor or nurse, however, the social services have a favorable management.