142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

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297616
Associated Characteristics of Serious Leisure among National Senior Games Participants

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Monday, November 17, 2014

Sangguk Kang, MS , School of Public Health, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
Wei Wang, Ph.D. , Department of Economic Development and Tourism, University of Southern Mississippi, Long Beach, MS
Shu Cole, Ph.D. , School of Public Health - Bloomington, Department of Recreation, Park & Tourism Studies, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
OBJECTIVES: Previous studies have shown that participating in leisure activity is vital for satisfaction and quality of life among seniors. Serious leisure, as a theoretical framework, explains individual participation in leisure activity. Although National Senior Games (NSG) participants tend to have improved health through participation in vigorous leisure activity, the association between serious leisure and leisure activity in the aging population remains unclear. This study evaluated the characteristics of serious leisure by examining NSG participants’ leisure activity.

METHODS: Participants (n=314) responded to a survey conducted to identify the characteristics of serious leisure during the 2013 NSG in Cleveland, Ohio. The Serious Leisure Inventory Measure (SLIM) model was used to assess the eighteen characteristics of NSG participants’ leisure activity using sample t-test. The SLIM was invented to explain the original concept of serious leisure through quantitative methods. 

RESULTS: The mean age of respondents was 69 years (SD = 8.73, Range 51 to 91). The highest three characteristics of serious leisure in leisure activity were personal effort, personal enrichment, and self- enjoyment, while the three lowest characteristics were financial return, self-image, and career-contingency (p < .05).

CONCLUSIONS: As a multi-sports event for the aging population, NSG provides an arena for senior adults for vigorous senior leisure activity to improve quality of life. This research demonstrated the characteristics of serious leisure through NSG participants’ leisure activity. The NSG participants highly enjoy the leisure activity and pursue personal enrichment through effort although senior people have low financial return, self-image, and career-contingency.

Learning Areas:

Assessment of individual and community needs for health education
Other professions or practice related to public health
Public health or related research
Systems thinking models (conceptual and theoretical models), applications related to public health

Learning Objectives:
Identify the characteristics of serious leisure

Keyword(s): Aging, Physical Activity

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: As a second year doctoral student in the department of recreation, park, and tourism studies at Indiana University, I have studied leisure behavior with a focus on aging populations and people with disabilities. While studying and researching this at Indiana University, I volunteered at community organizations to help with seniors and people with disabilities(e.g., National Center on Accessibility, National Senior Games).
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 3291.0: Health-Related Behaviors in Older Adults