Taking up Arts and Crafts in Later Life: A Qualitative Study of the Experiential Factors That Encourage Participation in Creative Activities (Research) (Report‪)‬

Introduction Occupations that provide opportunities for personal development, choice and accomplishment appear to promote wellbeing in later life and positive ageing (Gergen and Gergen 2006), whereas any restriction of meaningful occupation increases the risk of depression (Williamson 2002). Older people describe feeling more useful, enjoying social contact and gaining cognitive stimulation from their leisure activities (Gabriel and Bowling 2004). Zoerink (2001) found that favoured leisure activities promoted feelings of mastery and high self-esteem, such achievements being especially valued among older participants with mobility problems who no longer worked and who, perhaps as a consequence, had fewer alternative sources of affirmation. Feelings such as inner peace, deep concentration (or 'engrossment') and autonomy were derived from leisure activities, according to a small sample of healthy older people interviewed by Sellar and Boshoff (2006).