Exploring How Older People Living at Home Alone Occupy Their Time – A Time-Geographic Study

Background: Knowing what older people choose to do with their time informs occupational therapists in their everyday practice. This study explored how sixteen older Australians living at home alone without support occupied their time. Method: People aged 70 years and older living alone in one's...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The open journal of occupational therapy 2020-04, Vol.8 (2), p.1-7
Main Authors: Wicks, Alison, Blanchard, Megan, Nilsson, Ingeborg
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Activities of daily living
arbetsterapi
daily activities
Diaries
Education
Finance
Leisure
Occupational therapy
occupations
Older people
Participation
Research funding
Social interaction
Social support
Time
Time management
time use
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Background: Knowing what older people choose to do with their time informs occupational therapists in their everyday practice. This study explored how sixteen older Australians living at home alone without support occupied their time. Method: People aged 70 years and older living alone in one's home and receiving no support services were voluntary recruited. The participants completed time-use diaries for 5 days and recorded how, with whom, and where they spent time. Data were coded and analyzed using the software program Vardagen. Results: The participants reported 217 different daily activities. While patterns of daily participation varied, all of the participants spent some time with others and some time away from but near home. The majority of their time was spent alone. On average, the participants reported meaningfulness in their occupations 90% of the days. Conclusion: The study highlighted how older people living at home without support services can meaningfully occupy their time if they have access to personally relevant people and places. Keywords daily activities, occupations, participation, time use Cover Page Footnote This study was financially supported by The Swedish Foundation for International Cooperation in Research and Higher Education; the Swedish Research Council's Linnaeus Grant, no. 2006-21576-36119-66; and the Shoalhaven Campus, University of Wollongong. Copyright transfer agreements are not obtained by The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy (OJOT). Reprint permission for this Applied Research should be obtained from the corresponding author(s). Click here to view our open access statement regarding user rights and distribution of this Applied Research. DOI: 10.15453/2168-6408.1625
ISSN:2168-6408
2168-6408
DOI:10.15453/2168-6408.1625