Self-care and promotion of healthy lifestyles in older adults

Introduction: Population aging is a challenge facing today's society and has generated a growing interest in the study of self-care as a fundamental component for the well-being of older adults. Objective: to argue the importance of self-care and the promotion of healthy lifestyles in older adults. Methods: narrative bibliographic review with a selection of articles obtained from databases such as Scielo, PubMed and Scopus. The search criteria used were: Self-care, Older adults, Healthy lifestyles. For the selection of articles, the following inclusion criteria were considered: original articles, books, short communications, review articles and systematic reviews, theses contained in institutional repositories, published in English or Spanish, in the period from January 2018 to May 2024. Development: the world's population is experiencing rapid aging, which highlights the importance of self-care in addressing the health needs of older people. As life expectancy increases and birth rates decrease, the percentage of older people in the total population is growing significantly. Self-care in the older adult population covers a wide range of areas, ranging from the adoption of healthy lifestyle habits, such as a balanced diet and regular exercise, to medication management, blood pressure control, and monitoring of blood sugar levels. Conclusions: Implementing self-care as a permanent lifestyle habit is essential for older adults to maintain a good quality of life, prevent or control diseases, and relieve pressure on health services