Early Hour, Golden Hour: an Exploration of Slovenian Older People’s Meaningful Occupations

Abstract

People are occupational beings and enabling older people to engage in meaningful occupations contributes to their health and well-being. Experiences of engagement and meaning in an occupation may differ in different socio-cultural contexts. The aim of this study was to explore Slovenian older people's individual experiences of engagement in occupation, with a particular emphasis on their meaningful occupations. The study employed a phenomenological research approach. Semistructured interviews were conducted with ten Slovenian older adults, living independently in their home environment. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was used to approach and analyze the data. The findings highlighted that meaningful occupations and daily rituals represented an important part of the participants' identities. The meanings they attached to their occupations were informed by Slovenian socio-cultural, historical and physical context. A range of people and places were identified as significant in generating and maintaining these meanings. Participants gave particular significance to the role of productive, health-promoting and family-related occupations. The study contributes new occupational science knowledge and the findings support the case for increased recognition of the importance of meaningful occupation for older people.

Reflecting on conceptualisations of ‘meaning’ in occupational therapy

“…Some common interpretivist theoretical perspectives that guide research methodologies in occupational therapy to examine meaning include phenomenology, symbolic interactionism, and hermeneutics. The influence of phenomenology is evident in the amount of research exploring meanings of human occupation (Absolom & Roberts, 2011;Alsaker & Josephsson, 2010;Berger, 2011;Degrace, 2004;Eriksson & Tham, 2010;Gibbs & Klinger, 2011;Križaj et al, 2019;Pereira & Stagnitti, 2008;Reed et al, 2011). An advantage of phenomenology is the view that "meaning in people's lives is given by the context of the world in which they live" (Wilding & Whiteford, 2005, p. 100).…”