Leisure Activities for the Aged

Abstract

Leisure-time activities are discussed within the broader context of use of time, where both discretionary and obligatory uses are seen as meaningful to the individual. Comparisons of time use among people of different ages and the content of older people's days are discussed. Older people's choices of activities are seen as determined by the social values prevalent in their earlier years, their practice over a lifetime in various pursuits, changes in biologically and socially determined competence, changes in personal needs, and the impeding and facilitating effects of the external environment. Glorification of high activity level and of tra ditional leisure-time activities is seen as being strongly deter mined by a middle-life and middle-class bias, which is not always appropriate to today's cohort of elderly. On the other hand, many activities that are chosen primarily by the more educated and higher-income elderly of today will no doubt be more accessible to future older generations. For the present, creative programming and interventions to enlarge environ mental opportunities, particularly in the instrumental sphere, are required to bridge the gap between needs for meaningful pursuits and the possibility of their attainment.