Introduction:

Aging produces physiological, anatomical, behavioral, social and cultural changes. Arguably, the specialist nurse in rehabilitation, assumes an increasingly important role in the care provided during the aging process, through the elaboration of specialized care plans that maximize the functionality of the elderly, enabling them to have greater autonomy and independence in self-care, such that they can have a better quality of life. In this work, we present the TEIA program that focuses on the training of balance, urinary continence and cognition in active elderly.

Objective:

To assess the impact of the 12-week program on institutionalized elderly individuals on the state of balance, cognition, symptoms of urinary incontinence and quality of life.

Method:

Quasi-experimental study, before-after, with control group with a total sample of 30 elderly people, 16 in the program group and 14 in the control group. Several functional evaluation instruments were applied in the Portuguese version, namely: Falls Efficacy Scale International (FES I); Tinetti's test; Berg Balance Scale (BBS); Timed Up and Go Test (TUG); International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire - Short Form (ICIQ-SF); Lawton-Brody Index; Geriatric Depression Scale of 15 questions (GDS15); Cognitive Decline Test of 6 items (6CIT); and Health-related Life Questionnaire (SF-36).

Results:

Seniors in the program group improved their static and dynamic balance, fear of falling and gait execution (Tinetti, Z=-3,126, p=0,002; BBS, Z=-3,304, p=0,001; FES I, Z=-3,059, p=0,002; and TUG, Z=-3,516, p=0,0001). Additionally, the program brought them benefits in the performance of cognition (6CIT, Z= -3,088, p=0,002) and in the perception of quality of life associated with urinary incontinence (ICIQ-SF, Z=-2,680, p=0,007).

Conclusion:

The implementation of the TEIA Program led to significant gains on the health of the elderly population, improving the balance, competence of the pelvic floor muscles and the performance of cognition, resulting in enhanced the participants' quality of life.

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