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Licensed Unlicensed Requires Authentication Published by De Gruyter May 10, 2011

Reconstructing leisure in adapting to chronic illness in later life: emotional and behavioral strategies

  • Douglas Kleiber EMAIL logo , Galit Nimrod and Susan Hutchinson

Abstract

Although the idea of “constraint negotiation” is quite common in the leisure studies literature, relatively little of this work has focused on aging or the strategies used to overcome health-related constraints to leisure activity participation. This article explores how older people with chronic illnesses adapt to constraints to leisure. Semi-structured in-person interviews were conducted with 18 community-dwelling older adults with a variety of chronic conditions. Analysis of narrative data indicated a range of emotional and behavioral responses to constraints. Emotional responses grouped into: (a) allowing for mourning, (b) appreciating what one still has, (c) realizing that things can be worse, (d) welcoming the constraint, and (e) all or nothing. Behavioral reactions included: (a) substitution, (b) compensating to overcome constraints, and (c) seizing opportunities for self-validation in disability-relevant volunteer work and becoming someone “new”. Findings are discussed in terms of the models of constraint negotiation and selective optimization. Findings also indicate that health constraints require a process of ongoing negotiations, which often result in positive changes.


Corresponding author: Douglas Kleiber, PhD, Department of Counseling and Human Development Services, 353 Ramsey Student Center, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30606, USA

Received: 2010-10-5
Accepted: 2010-12-5
Published Online: 2011-05-10
Published in Print: 2011-05-01

©2011 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin New York

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