Exploring How Older People Living at Home Alone Occupy Their Time – A Time-Geographic Study

Background: Knowing what older people choose to do with their time informs occupational therapists in their everyday practice. This study explored how sixteen older Australians living at home alone without support occupied their time. Method: People aged 70 years and older living alone in one’s hom...

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Main Authors: Alison Wicks, Megan Blanchard, Ingeborg Nilsson
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Scholarworks @ WMU 2020-04-01
Series:Open Journal of Occupational Therapy
Subjects:
Online Access:https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1625&context=ojot
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author Alison Wicks
Megan Blanchard
Ingeborg Nilsson
author_facet Alison Wicks
Megan Blanchard
Ingeborg Nilsson
author_sort Alison Wicks
collection DOAJ
description Background: Knowing what older people choose to do with their time informs occupational therapists in their everyday practice. This study explored how sixteen older Australians living at home alone without support occupied their time. Method: People aged 70 years and older living alone in one’s home and receiving no support services were voluntary recruited. The participants completed time-use diaries for 5 days and recorded how, with whom, and where they spent time. Data were coded and analyzed using the software program Vardagen. Results: The participants reported 217 different daily activities. While patterns of daily participation varied, all of the participants spent some time with others and some time away from but near home. The majority of their time was spent alone. On average, the participants reported meaningfulness in their occupations 90% of the days. Conclusion: The study highlighted how older people living at home without support services can meaningfully occupy their time if they have access to personally relevant people and places.
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spelling doaj.art-1b01bf788afa44f9b22d242cd0ec115c2022-12-21T20:14:18ZengScholarworks @ WMUOpen Journal of Occupational Therapy2168-64082168-64082020-04-01821710.15453/2168-6408.1625Exploring How Older People Living at Home Alone Occupy Their Time – A Time-Geographic StudyAlison WicksMegan BlanchardIngeborg NilssonBackground: Knowing what older people choose to do with their time informs occupational therapists in their everyday practice. This study explored how sixteen older Australians living at home alone without support occupied their time. Method: People aged 70 years and older living alone in one’s home and receiving no support services were voluntary recruited. The participants completed time-use diaries for 5 days and recorded how, with whom, and where they spent time. Data were coded and analyzed using the software program Vardagen. Results: The participants reported 217 different daily activities. While patterns of daily participation varied, all of the participants spent some time with others and some time away from but near home. The majority of their time was spent alone. On average, the participants reported meaningfulness in their occupations 90% of the days. Conclusion: The study highlighted how older people living at home without support services can meaningfully occupy their time if they have access to personally relevant people and places.https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1625&context=ojotdaily activitiesoccupationsparticipationtime use
spellingShingle Alison Wicks
Megan Blanchard
Ingeborg Nilsson
Exploring How Older People Living at Home Alone Occupy Their Time – A Time-Geographic Study
Open Journal of Occupational Therapy
daily activities
occupations
participation
time use
title Exploring How Older People Living at Home Alone Occupy Their Time – A Time-Geographic Study
title_full Exploring How Older People Living at Home Alone Occupy Their Time – A Time-Geographic Study
title_fullStr Exploring How Older People Living at Home Alone Occupy Their Time – A Time-Geographic Study
title_full_unstemmed Exploring How Older People Living at Home Alone Occupy Their Time – A Time-Geographic Study
title_short Exploring How Older People Living at Home Alone Occupy Their Time – A Time-Geographic Study
title_sort exploring how older people living at home alone occupy their time a time geographic study
topic daily activities
occupations
participation
time use
url https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1625&context=ojot
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