This study aimed to analyze social representations among elderly who live with frailty, as defined by the Brazilian Ministry of Health, as well as to identify the role of the Family Health Team, according to the elderly. This qualitative, descriptive study was based on the Theory of Social Representations and took place in the homes of elderly people enrolled in the Family Health Unit in Natal, RN, Brazil. A total of 10 elderly participated in this study, considering intentional choice and the saturation of information. Semi-structured interviews and participant observation were used to collect data. Although many of subjects presented aspects of frailty, the majority of the elderly had difficulty defining it. Through the content analysis, six themes were achieved that in general indicated that the representations for frailty given by these elderly people were related to the presence of disease, changes in daily life, weakness, and risk of falling. It was concluded that understanding frailty is fundamental to assessing elderly health in primary care.
Aging; Frail elderly; Nursing; Family health