IS THERE ROOM TO GROW OLD IN BRAZIL?

Abstract

This article examines access to healthcare for the aging population in Brazil, exploring the interplay between legal rights, service organization, and social inequalities. Through qualitative, bibliographic, and documentary research, it analyzes the continuity of care within the Unified Health System (SUS), conditions for entering and remaining in the supplementary health sector, judicial criteria regarding medications and treatments, physical activity, digitalization, and the distribution of caregiving responsibilities within families. It argues that the formal recognition of care services does not, in itself, guarantee effective access; such access depends on continuity, timeliness, and the conditions necessary to exercise autonomy. It concludes that public policies and contractual regulations must take into account the material burdens borne by patients and caregivers.