The Elderly and Leisure Activities: A Case Study

Abstract

Studies on the ageing population are increasing in number, aiming to find strategies that allow this life cycle’s phase to be lived with quality. The practice and development of leisure activities is an important factor of life’s quality, since it contributes to a better state of mind and, in the case of older people, it may be a strategy to mitigate the effects resulting from the ageing process. Despite, and according to some studies, the elderly do not give leisure a great importance in their lives, often due to their life history, which did not provide them with good conditions and opportunities to develop these activities. Even for elderly people who have no leisure time habits, the fact is that, when they reach a certain age, these activities can become a structural element of their daily lives. This study aims to ascertain what type – and with which intensity – of leisure and free-time occupation activities the elderly perform, as well as the impact of the pandemic on the performance of these activities. This descriptive research uses a questionnaire as a data collection tool, divided into four parts: the first part involves a set of sociodemographic data; the second part, based on the "Leisure Activities Index" by Rosa Martins (2016), includes a set of nine questions; the third part integrates a question to understand the elderly’s perception of their leisure time use; and, finally, the fourth part includes a set of questions on the impact of the pandemic on the performance of leisure activities. The non-probability convenience sample included a set of 33 older people attending a Day Care Centre and a Home Support Service in central Portugal.