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Objective: To develop a conceptual framework that explains how elderly people from different cultures experience aging, formulate concepts and assign values to the process of aging., Method: Qualitative research conducted with 33 elderly people in a municipality of the triple border. The data were collected between February and August of 2011, using Symbolic Interactionism and the Grounded Theory as the theoretical and methodological strategy., Results: The central theme identified was: "Having to age: sociocultural practices guiding aging in different ethnicities", which was made up of sub processes that characterize the study's structural concepts: aging conceived as multifactorial (physical, biopsychic and sociocultural); Experiencing aging in the process of cultural adaptation; Experiencing aging as the continuation of life; Redefining social roles; and The culture influencing habits and customs in healthcare., Conclusion: The experience of aging proved to be a unique process for each individual and the values assigned to it are influenced by one's own culture.

Objective:: identify how filial care and the relationship with the elderly occur in families of different nationalities., Method:: qualitative study carried out in a town on the triple frontier of Paraná, comprising 33 elderly people of five different nationalities, adopting the Symbolic Interactionism and the Grounded Theory as theoretical-methodological strategy., Results:: among Lebanese people, the Muslim religion teaches children to obey and respect parents; among French, distant family relationships and institutions for the elderly stand out. Paraguayans hold close family relationships; Chinese people consider filial care as a tacit obligation; Brazilians, in turn, tend to embrace and take care of their parents in old age., Conclusion:: family care prevailed, but the traditions of each society lead the actions of that care, demanding health professionals' capacity of recognizing in which context the elderly is inserted.