Evaluation and Intervention in the Life Cycle

   CONTENTS  

Foreword

Research Structures

Energy, Environment, and Biodiversity

Humanities and Ethics

Culture and Education

Society and Development

Information and Communication Technology

Biology and Health

Research Structures and Researchers

About

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Understanding human development

The Research Group on Evaluation and Intervention in the Life Cycle is linked to the Graduate Program in Psychology. Created in 2004, it is led by Professor Irani Iracema de Lima Argimon, with the main objective of studying human development throughout the life cycle. The researchers intend to understand the changes and the continuity of the processes, individual and shared development patterns, and the influences of the environment. The research areas are as follows: Evaluation and intervention in clinical and non-clinical groups and Validation of psychological instruments.

The studies incorporate children, adolescents, adults, and the elderly, but the main focus is on aging and its different aspects. One emphasis is on the cognitive aspect: studying cognitive decline with aging, how much this affects the relationship of the elderly individual with him or herself and with other people, and when this decline affects them to the point of causing dementia. In this project, partnerships are upheld, particularly with the Institute of Geriatrics and Gerontology of PUCRS, evaluating cognitive aspects of elderly assisted by family health policies.

The group has also proposed rehabilitation strategies for these elderly individuals, seeking to increase their quality of life, in addition to studying other topics, such as the role of spirituality in the context of aging. Does spirituality improve the quality of life? How do the elderly perceive the end of life? Do the more spiritual elderly accept the idea of death with more tranquility?

Studies with younger populations have particularly focused on chemical dependence among adolescents and on how the use of tobacco and crack has affected the lives of the users and their families. There is also a large project linked to the National Post-Doctoral Program (CAPES/PNPD) in which two graduate students are studying the topic of trauma during infancy, mistreatment, and the repercussions during childhood, adulthood, and as a senior citizen. The study is in the data collection phase.