EN
Background. The study is an attempt to determine the consequences of attending a university of the third age at a college of physical education, seen as a form of social support for healthy behaviors and the state of coherence of the elderly. Material and methods. The study involved 30 students of the University of the Third Age at the University School of Physical Education in Wroclaw and the control group of 30 people who do not use any form of structural social support. The average age of the respondents in the groups was approximately 65 and 67 years, respectively. The study was conducted in late 2013 or early 2014 using a health behavior questionnaire of our own design and Aaron Antonovsky’s SOC 29 questionnaire to assess the sense of coherence. Results and conclusions. It was found that the results of the survey carried out in both groups indicate that structural social support of an educational institution of physical culture differentiates positively the health behaviors and sense of coherence of respondents in late adulthood.