Striving for Being in the Line of Life: Personal Active Ageing Strategies in Iranian Seniors

Abstract

Active ageing is a multidimensional, relative, and context-dependent concept with different paths and outcomes. This qualitative study aimed to explore personal active aging strategies in a specific context. Following a directed thematic analysis procedure, we conducted semi-structured individual interviews with 39 seniors (men and women) between the ages of 60-97 years selected with purposeful sampling, data collection and analysis were concurrent. We used directed content analysis to analyze the data from interviews, written narratives, and field notes. The reliability of data was fulfilled following Lincoln and Guba criteria. We stopped data collection when no new concepts were added, and data saturation occurred. Based on the experience of seniors, we identified four categories: (a) Reventive, (b) Coping, (c) Internal Self-Control, and (d) Opportunity Exploiting Strategies. These described the active aging strategies when encountering age-related change. Utilizing these strategies, the senior accompanied the lifetime. The finding suggests that active aging is a continuous process in confronting age-related change. The identified strategies can help promote active aging by familiarizing the elderly with opportunities of life and training them in how to use these strategies.