The proportion of the worlds population over the age of 65 has increased significantly during the last century and is projected to keep increasing, with the largest growth in the sector of the population over age 75. With the growth in the population of older people it is more likely than ever before that occupational therapists will have contact with older people. Occupational therapy has much to offer older people and their well-being, ensuring that they live not only longer, but importantly, live well as they understand it. / Well-being is a core concept within occupational therapy. Achievement of well-being on the part of the client is a goal of therapy. However, examination of occupational therapy and other health related literature, reveals that the meaning or understanding of well-being in play is often not articulated and at times well being appears as a contested concept in the literature (Stanley & Cheek 2003b). The meaning of well-being is often assumed, or conflated with other concepts such as life satisfaction and happiness. Further, how people achieve well-being is unclear and in most occupational therapy literature the perspective of the older person with regard to well-being is missing. In light of this omission there is the potential for a lack of congruence between the principles of occupational therapy designed to promote well being, and the perspective of the older person as to what well being actually is. Such incongruence has the potential to make well-being an elusive goal of therapy. In response, this study uses grounded theory to explore how older people perceive and understand well-being. / Grounded theory was used in the study because of its ability to generate theoretical propositions in an area where little is known (Stanley & Cheek 2003a). Fifteen participants over the age of 75, living in the community in one metropolitan city of Australia, were selected by opportunistic, snowball and theoretical sampling. In-depth interviews were conducted and analysed using the tenets of traditional grounded theory. / The central category to emerge was that to experience well-being older people had to perceive that they were in control. Participants in the study sought to avoid the perception of not being in control brought about by challenges to equilibrium, such as loss of capacities and loss of relationships. To perceive that they were in control participants used routine, needed to have choices and maintain independence. They used the basic social process of trading off to increase their perception of being in control. Trading off was used to exchange occupations that were no longer within their capacity, for occupations that were, or for other people to complete those tasks in order for the person to perceive that they were in control. Other categories that supported perceived control and the ability to use trading off were personal resources, feeling comfortable and secure and an attitude of its up to me. Thus well-being emerged as a dynamic interaction between the older person, their physical and social environment, and the demands of the occupations they wished to engage in order to have perceived control. / Given this new knowledge about the importance of perceived control to older people and their well-being, occupational therapists can look for ways of working with older people to ensure they perceive they are in control and are able to use trading off in order to attain well being. The major contribution that this study makes to occupational therapy knowledge is an explication of older peoples understandings and perceptions of well-being, particularly given that well-being is a central concept within occupational therapy. Knowledge about the use of trading off also contributes to the theoretical propositions relating to the process of occupational adaptation. / Thesis (PhDHealthSciences)--University of South Australia, 2006.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/267316 |
| Creators | Stanley, Mandy. |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | copyright under review |
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