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Subjective leisure experiences of older Australians
Author(s) -
Sellar Ben,
Boshoff Kobie
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
australian occupational therapy journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.595
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1440-1630
pISSN - 0045-0766
DOI - 10.1111/j.1440-1630.2006.00565.x
Subject(s) - metropolitan area , psychology , obligation , exploratory research , consciousness , social psychology , medicine , sociology , political science , social science , pathology , neuroscience , law
Background: Previous studies into leisure have employed methodologies that may understate the significance of experiential components. This exploratory study investigated the leisure experiences of retired Australians over 65 years of age.Methods: Five semistructured interviews were used to explore the leisure experience of older people from metropolitan Adelaide. Data were coded and analysed thematically.Results: Relaxation and engrossment emerged as commonly expressed experiences, yet were found to emerge as a result of engagement in occupations predefined as leisure. Experiences of freedom from both necessary duties and a sense of obligation were discussed as potential determinants of leisure consciousness.Practice implications: This study highlights a need for therapists to actively access clients’ subjective leisure experiences to enable engagement in personally meaningful leisure occupations.