Resources to address adverse situations

Abstract

This paper will develop the design and pedagogical-methodological proposal for a workshop aimed at older adults, which addresses the issue of stress and coping strategies. This interdisciplinary workshop aims to capture, in a current issue such as stress, the latest scientific developments in neuroscience. The approach is from a biological, psychological and social point of view, as we understand that the stress process is in itself a coping strategy. Stress is not exclusive to a specific life stage; however, there are situations that most frequently happen in old age, as widowhood, retirement, illness, the awareness of one's own finite existence. These situations make this period of life potentially vulnerable to stress. As a pedagogical approach, we suggest a classroom-workshop format, which allows individual and group work interaction among participants. It also creates a dynamic, participatory and reflective environment where seniors have access to current content and have the possibility to share their own experiences and their functional or dysfunctional solutions, which may promote peer bonding.