A EDUCAÇÃO NOS PROJETOS DE VIDA DE ADULTOS E IDOSOS: REFLEXÕES SOBRE O DIREITO DE ENVELHECER BEM

In this essay, we address the increase in life expectancy in Brazil, the heterogeneity of aging and the importance of living the aging process with meaning. This importance is related, among other things, to the countless benefits we experience when we have reasons to live. We address the concept of purpose, as well as empirical research that points to associations between the purpose construct and good indicators of physical and mental health. Furthermore, we indicate that Brazilian investigations involving the purpose of adults and elderly people are still scarce compared to other stages of life and deserve more attention. Then we discuss the role that education plays in the construction and reconstruction of purposes and that, as a human right, it must be ensured for people of all ages, origins, colors, genders, economic classes, among other factors. In developing countries marked by social inequality, such as Brazil, we believe that this discussion is fundamental and urgent. Based on the contributions of Viktor Frankl and Paulo Freire, we defend an education that promotes freedom, emancipation and social change, while helping the individual understand how to be unfinished, capable of dreaming, projecting and acting in the world. We conclude by arguing that access to educational spaces throughout life contributes significantly to healthy aging and that the opportunity to develop life purposes also be understood as a human right.