Understanding space, place and leisure of women over 85 living in the community

There is an increase in the number of older adults 85 and over, who are choosing to live alone within the community. Moreover, older adults who live alone are reportedly spending an extensive amount of time alone within the home environment. In an effort to provide additional support and resources to older adults living in the community, a compliment of services are being offered through public and private organizations. These in-home supports focus on the instrumental or functional tasks of daily living, such as personal and rehabilitative care, nourishment, maintenance and upkeep of the home, as well as volunteer social visitation. However leisure resources and programs are not included among these services. Consequently, this creates a gap in leisure provision among this segment of the population. Throughout the life course, an individual's identity, role and purpose are developed and sustained through instrumental work roles in the formal and informal sector, as well as through personally meaningful leisure pastimes and experiences. Although roles shift post retirement, participation in instrumental and expressive activities can provide opportunities through which older adults are able to fulfill their need for agency (individuality and autonomy) and affiliation (social relatedness). Therefore barriers that inhibit instrumental or leisure experiences can negatively impact older adults' quality of life. This study explored the leisure lifestyles of four older adults, all of whom were over 85, lived alone within the community and were oriented to person, time and place. It became apparent that participants ordered their lives around a routine that consisted of instrumental, expressive and socially integrated tasks and activities. Moreover participants purposely chose to remain at home because their home environment facilitated freedom, choice and independence. As a result all four participants viewed their independence within the home as a critical determinant to their overall quality of life. Challenges associated with the home environment, participants' personal capacities and relationships were negotiated on a daily basis. Failure to positively adapt to these challenges inhibited meaningful engagement and personal fulfillment. Traditionally, leisure service delivery has been offered within institutions and through various community based venues. As a result leisure provision has been focused on the needs of the frail elderly who reside in institutions or the well elderly who are able to access leisure amenities within the community. However the growing number of older adults electing to live alone is on the rise. As individuals age the home becomes the preferred context for leisure experiences. If older adults are choosing to live alone, then both their instrumental and leisure needs must be addressed. As a result, it is imperative that leisure professionals extend the scope of service delivery to include home centered older adults.

Health-related learning needs and interests of selected non-institutionalized elderly

The research question in this study was "How do the noninstitutionalized elderly in the Hamilton-Wentworth Region perceive their learning needs and interests related to health?" The theoretical foundations of instruction for adults were reviewed as well as learning needs and interests in adult education, the assessment of learning needs in general, and the assessment of the learning needs of the elderly. The methodology used was a descriptive design. A research-based questionnaire-interview was developed, refined, and pilot tested. From a random sampling procedure, a participant group of 23 was secured. The questionnaireinterview was administered in a home visit situation. Data, which were collected, were coded, analyzed, processed, and printed. The results indicated that each participant had many learning needs and interests of varying intensities. The participants had many preferences in the delivery of health promotion. The learning needs and interests had several significant correlations with other variables. The implications of the result~ were discussed.

The elderly : reminiscing, coping with loss, accepting death

This study investigated loss, death and dying, reminiscing, coping and the process of adaptation from the sUbjective perspective. A number of theories and models of death and dying were reviewed in the background literature search with the focus on reminiscing as a coping phenomenon. The format of the study was audio-taped interviews with ten sUbjects and the recording of their memories and reminiscing of life stories. The sUbjects were required to complete an initial questionnaire in a demographic data collection process. Two separate interviews consisted of a primary data collecting interview and a verification interview four to eight weeks later. An independent chart review completed the data collecting process. Data analysis was by the examination of the emerging themes in the subjects' personal narratives which revealed the sUb-categories of reminiscing, loss (including death and dying), acceptance, hope, love, despair and belief. Belief was shown to be the foundation and the base for living and reminiscing. Reminiscing was found to be a coping phenomenon, within the foundation of a belief system. Both living and reminiscing revealed the existence of a central belief or value with a great deal of importance attached to it. Whether the belief was of a spiritual nature, a value of marriage, tradition, a work ethic or belief in an abstract value such as fate,it gave support and control to the individuals' living and reminiscing process. That which caused despair or allowed acceptance indicated the sUbjects' basic belief and was identified in the story narrations. The findings were significant to health care in terms of education, increased dignity for the elderly and better understanding by society. The profiles represented an average age of 86.3 years with age showing no bearing on the life experiences associated with the emerging themes. Overwhelmingly, belief was shown to be the foundation in reminiscing. A Judeo-Christian cultural value base supported the belief in 90% of the sUbjects; however, different beliefs were clearly shown indicating that belief is central to all thinking beings, in everyday life and in reminiscing. Belief was not necessarily spiritual or a practised or verbalized religion. It was shown to be a way of understanding, a fundamental and single thread tying the individual's life and stories together. The benefits were the outcomes, in that knowledge of an individual's belief can optimize care planning for any age group, and/or setting. The strength of the study was the open question format and the feedback process of data verification. The unrestricted outcomes and non-specificity were significant in a world where dying is everybody's business.

Photograph - Elderly Woman at Log House

A photograph of an elderly female standing on the porch of a log house. A handwritten note is on the reverse.

Photograph - Elderly Woman feeding Chickens

A photograph of an elderly woman in a field behind a home or barn. She is wearing a polka dot dress and apron as she feeds the chickens