Don’t Forget the Importance of Leisure Occupations for the Community Dwelling Elder

Abstract

Leisure exploration is important to the community dwelling elder (CDE) as research indicates that social and leisure activities correlate with well-being in this population (Adams et al., 2011). This research project aimed to gain insight on the CDE’s perspective on leisure as they age in place and the role occupational therapists play in leisure promotion for this population. This mixed method study included quantitative data from the Activity Card Sort (ACS) assessment which provided data on how leisure and activities of daily living have changed with aging. Qualitative data was gained through semi-structured interview and explored the perspectives of the elderly population through their lived experience of aging in the community. The reason for collecting both quantitative and qualitative data was to gain stronger evidence on the changes elders in the community face while aging in place. There were originally 5 participants in this study recruited through convenience sampling, however only 3 completed the full study. The CDEs in this study experienced a decline in their participation in leisure occupations based on self-reports. Occupational therapy has a role in promoting healthcare among this population and can be beneficial to the CDE’s emotional, physical, and social well-being