The aging process is a natural phenomenon that occurs in all human beings. One technique that
can be used in healthy aging programs is Functional Health Literacy (LFS). LFS is the ability
to read, understand and practice health-related guidance. The objective of this research was to
develop and apply LFS techniques, through health education workshops to promote self-care
and improve the perception of quality of life in a group of elderly people. This is a descriptive
study with a quantitative approach. It was carried out in 2024 with people aged between 60-90
years of both sexes in the city of Conceição do Araguaia-Pará-Brazil. An instrument was
applied to identify socioeconomic profiles - Critério Brasil, from the Brazilian Association of
Business and Research (ABEP).The instrument culturally adapted and validated in Brazil to
assess the level of functional literacy was the Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults (B-
TOFHLA) and to assess quality of life, the World Health Organization Quality of Life
Assessment instruments were used ( Whoqol-Bref) and for quality of life in the elderly -
WHOQOL – OLD, both developed by the World Health Organization (WHO). The ASA-A
scale was used to assess Self-Care Capabilities (ASA-A). 41 elderly people participated in the
study. The overall average age was 67.7 (6.7) years. The group characterization results highlight
that the majority were women, married, illiterate or with incomplete primary education, users
of the Unified Health System (SUS) and from the most vulnerable economic strata. In relation
to the perception of quality of life, it is possible to observe higher scores in the psychological
and social relationships domains. The lowest scores appeared in the physical and environmental
domains. According to the WHOQOL-Old test applied at the beginning of the research and
post-intervention, we observed that all domains changed in a statistically significant way. The
research showed that the interventions helped with the LFS of some participants and improved
the self-care capacity observed at the beginning of the research. Based on the application of the
ASA-A instrument, it was possible to notice that the participants' self-care capacity was already
excellent (above 100) and became even better. When we compared the pre- and post-
intervention LFS scores, no statistical differences were observed. The findings of this research
identified that LFS strategies through health education workshops on self-care for elderly
people obtained positive results, improving the participants' conception of their own self-care
and contributing to improving their perception of their quality of life. These results confirm the
relevance of proposing educational actions focused on these themes with an emphasis on active
and healthy aging using functional health literacy strategies.
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