Leisure Activity Demand of Older Adults: A Case Study

Men’s Social Connectedness in Later Life: A Qualitative Study with Older Men

“…Another strategy for social connection in our sample is participation in leisure, sporting, and intellectual activities. In previous studies, older people who get involved in recreational activities, such as sports, book clubs, art groups and cultural events, point to these activities as a way of expanding their social networks and meeting people with similar interests [48,77,78]. In addition, participation in different networks such as religious groups continue to be a strong strategy for older men in our sample.…”

“…The sample, although representative for a qualitative study (n = 104), is made up mostly of Portuguese men who are white/European, heterosexual, have children, live in urban areas, and are married, which limits the diversity of perspectives and experiences from other communities. This includes people of different races and ethnicities, who are often the target of negative experiences such as racism, discrimination, and violence throughout their lives, as well as older men from the LGBTQIA+ community, who tend to experience stigmatization of identities, loss of social status, social dislocation and decreased autonomy, physical strength, and mental resilience [25,77,90]. Furthermore, due to the qualitative nature of the research, the results reflect the perceptions of the participants and are subject to social desirability bias, where some participants may downplay socially undesirable attitudes, events, ideas and behaviors and over-report more desirable attributes to the results [86].…”