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Perceived barriers and contributors to sense of purpose in life in retirement community residents

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 December 2020

Nathan A. Lewis Open the ORCID record for Nathan A. Lewis [Opens in a new window] ,
Naomi Reesor  and
Patrick L. Hill
Nathan A. Lewis*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada
Naomi Reesor
Affiliation:
Department of Applied Psychology and Human Development, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
Patrick L. Hill
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, USA Department of Psychology, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Despite the growing use of retirement communities and ageing care facilities, little is known about how residing in retirement residences may impact aspects of older adult wellbeing. Living in these communities may hold particular influence on residents’ sense of purpose, if they feel limited in their opportunities for individual action, or could serve to promote purposefulness depending on the social connections available. The current study sought to explore contributing factors as well as barriers to purpose in older adults living in three continuing care retirement communities. Using brief semi-structured interviews, 18 older adults were asked to describe their purpose in life, community-related activities and any perceived challenges limiting their ability to pursue this purpose. Thematic analysis was used to examine themes common across interviews. Interviews presented a mixed picture of the nature of purposefulness in retirement facilities. Residents espoused several benefits of community living such as social and leisure opportunities, while also noting several obstacles to their purpose, including health concerns and the belief that purpose in life was not relevant for older adults. These findings provide insight into how older adults can derive a sense of purpose from activities within their retirement community and how facilities can better tailor programmes to promote purposefulness and support personally valued roles for residents.

Keywords

purpose in lifepsychological wellbeingqualitative researchretirement communitiesthematic analysiselder care
Type
Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 42 , Issue 6 , June 2022 , pp. 1448 - 1464
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

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