Understanding Boredom and Leisure in Later Life: A Systematic Review.

Background And Objectives: Anecdotal evidence and references to boredom appear frequently in mass media, but only a few studies directly examine the phenomenon of boredom, and existing literature within the context of leisure has primarily focused on adolescents. Social isolation and loneliness often intertwine with boredom, and chronic conditions are major factors that increase the risk of experiencing boredom in later life. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to examine the significance of boredom among older adults and assess the existing literature to gain a more holistic understanding of boredom and how it has been studied among older adults in the context of leisure.

Sport Participation for Adults Aged 50 + Years: A Socioecological Analysis.

Sport participation can play a key role in older adults' successful aging as it provides an enjoyable opportunity for leisure-time physical activity. Research focusing on the benefits of sport participation in later life and facilitators for involvement has been increasing in the past several years. Drawing on the socioecological model, this study investigated select socioecological factors that predict older adults' sport participation from a holistic perspective.

A 2-Year Longitudinal Relationship Between Work-Family Conflict and Health Among Older Workers: Can Gardening Help?

With the graying workforce worldwide, identifying factors that facilitate older workers' health is critically important. We examined whether gardening mitigates the relationship of work-family conflict with disability, chronic conditions, depressive symptoms, and self-rated health among older workers. We drew a subsample of older workers aged 55 years and above from the Health and Retirement Study ( = 1,598).

The Effects of the A Matter of Balance Program on Falls and Physical Risk of Falls, Tampa, Florida, 2013.

Introduction: This study investigated the effects of the A Matter of Balance (MOB) program on falls and physical risk factors of falling among community-dwelling older adults living in Tampa, Florida, in 2013.

Methods: A total of 110 adults (52 MOB, 58 comparison) were enrolled in this prospective cohort study. Data on falls, physical risk of falling, and other known risk factors of falling were collected at baseline and at the end of the program.

Training versus engagement as paths to cognitive enrichment with aging.

While a training model of cognitive intervention targets the improvement of particular skills through instruction and practice, an engagement model is based on the idea that being embedded in an intellectually and socially complex environment can impact cognition, perhaps even broadly, without explicit instruction. We contrasted these 2 models of cognitive enrichment by randomly assigning healthy older adults to a home-based inductive reasoning training program, a team-based competitive program in creative problem solving, or a wait-list control. As predicted, those in the training condition showed selective improvement in inductive reasoning.

Predictors of falls among community-dwelling older adults with cancer: results from the health and retirement study.

Purpose: Cancer symptoms and the side effects of its treatment can increase the risk of falling among older adults with cancer. This study aimed to identify predictors of falling and recurrent falls among community-dwelling older adults with cancer over a 2-year period.

Methods: Data from the Health and Retirement Study were used (N = 1,630) in this study.

Predictors of older adults' personal and community mobility: using a comprehensive theoretical mobility framework.

Purpose Of The Study: Forty-six percent of older adults report limitations in their mobility, and maintaining mobility is considered an important factor in keeping adults independent and active in later life. This study tests a comprehensive theoretical framework of mobility (Webber, S. C.

Gardening as a potential activity to reduce falls in older adults.

This study examines whether participation in gardening predicts reduced fall risk and performance on balance and gait-speed measures in older adults. Data on adults age 65 and older (N = 3,237) from the Health and Retirement Study and Consumption and Activities Mail Survey were analyzed. Participants who spent 1 hr or more gardening in the past week were defined as gardeners, resulting in a total of 1,585 gardeners and 1,652 nongardeners.

Living with arthritis: using self-management of valued activities to promote health.

In this article, we explore how adults with arthritis use self-care strategies in their valued leisure activities, and variations in use based on their access to environmental resources. We conducted six focus groups (N = 34) with adults aged 55 and older with a diagnosis of arthritis. Adults living in residential communities were recruited, with 31% of the sample residing in subsidized housing.

The role of informal and formal leisure activities in the disablement process.

The disablement process model has been used as a framework to investigate factors that accelerate or decelerate disablement among older adults. Although very little is known about the direct and moderating effects of involvement in leisure activities on the disablement process, research has suggested that participation in leisure activities may serve as a factor affecting the disablement pathways. Using longitudinal data from individuals aged 65 and older (N = 535) in the Americans' Changing Lives study, we examined the influence of leisure involvement on the disablement process model.

Reduction in leisure activity and well-being during the transition to widowhood.

There is relatively little evidence available about how leisure involvement changes with the death of a spouse and even less about how leisure activity is associated with the health and well-being of widows during this transition. Using data from the Americans Changing Lives (ACL) dataset, this study of 154 widows investigated change in leisure involvement during the transition to widowhood and examined the relationship between leisure activity reduction and widows' well-being. Results indicated a majority of widows reduced their involvement in leisure activity.