Reconstructing leisure in adapting to chronic illness in later life: emotional and behavioral strategies
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Douglas Kleiber
,
Galit Nimrod
Abstract
Although the idea of “constraint negotiation” is quite common in the leisure studies literature, relatively little of this work has focused on aging or the strategies used to overcome health-related constraints to leisure activity participation. This article explores how older people with chronic illnesses adapt to constraints to leisure. Semi-structured in-person interviews were conducted with 18 community-dwelling older adults with a variety of chronic conditions. Analysis of narrative data indicated a range of emotional and behavioral responses to constraints. Emotional responses grouped into: (a) allowing for mourning, (b) appreciating what one still has, (c) realizing that things can be worse, (d) welcoming the constraint, and (e) all or nothing. Behavioral reactions included: (a) substitution, (b) compensating to overcome constraints, and (c) seizing opportunities for self-validation in disability-relevant volunteer work and becoming someone “new”. Findings are discussed in terms of the models of constraint negotiation and selective optimization. Findings also indicate that health constraints require a process of ongoing negotiations, which often result in positive changes.
©2011 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin New York
Articles in the same Issue
- Publisher's Note
- Publisher's Note
- EDITORIAL
- Leisure across the life course
- REVIEWS
- Stop aging and start living: the theory and practice of positive aging
- Efficacy of leisure experiences in controlling the onset of dementia in older adults
- ORIGINAL ARTICLES
- Leisure participation and the life, health, leisure and retirement satisfaction of retirees: a case study of Port Macquarie, Australia
- Yoga as a means to negotiate physical activity constraints in middle-aged and older adults
- Cultural participation of older adults: investigating the contribution of lowbrow and highbrow activities to social integration and satisfaction with life
- Reconstructing leisure in adapting to chronic illness in later life: emotional and behavioral strategies
- Older adults’ computer use: a case study of participants’ involvement with a SeniorNet program
- Leisure and disability: Mobility Assist program for aging and older adults
- Increasing the self-efficacy of individuals with a disability through a theory-based curriculum applied to playing golf
- The reliability and norms of the Leisure Diagnostic Battery for undergraduate recreation majors who are deaf
- Book reviews
- Book reviews
- Book reviews
Articles in the same Issue
- Publisher's Note
- Publisher's Note
- EDITORIAL
- Leisure across the life course
- REVIEWS
- Stop aging and start living: the theory and practice of positive aging
- Efficacy of leisure experiences in controlling the onset of dementia in older adults
- ORIGINAL ARTICLES
- Leisure participation and the life, health, leisure and retirement satisfaction of retirees: a case study of Port Macquarie, Australia
- Yoga as a means to negotiate physical activity constraints in middle-aged and older adults
- Cultural participation of older adults: investigating the contribution of lowbrow and highbrow activities to social integration and satisfaction with life
- Reconstructing leisure in adapting to chronic illness in later life: emotional and behavioral strategies
- Older adults’ computer use: a case study of participants’ involvement with a SeniorNet program
- Leisure and disability: Mobility Assist program for aging and older adults
- Increasing the self-efficacy of individuals with a disability through a theory-based curriculum applied to playing golf
- The reliability and norms of the Leisure Diagnostic Battery for undergraduate recreation majors who are deaf
- Book reviews
- Book reviews
- Book reviews
