Marianne Liliequist

Occupational Well-Being among the Very Old

Background: Limited knowledge is available on how very old people orchestrate and carry out their occupational life to achieve a sense of occupational well-being. Study objectives: To highlight very old persons’ ways of describing and discussing their occupational engagement in relation to a sense of occupational well-being. Methods: Qualitative interviews were conducted with 48 men and women between 90 and 98 years of age in their urban homes. Data were analysed using qualitative content analysis. Results: The results show that occupational engagement in relation to the surrounding world and occupational engagement unconstrained by space and time were important in achieving occupational well-being. The surrounding world involves having contact with family, friends, and society as well as living up to a shared norm of being independent. Unconstrained by space and time includes thinking, planning and creating a narrative of life based on the past, present and future. Limitations: The present study contributes to the body of knowledge focusing on occupational engagement and how it is linked to health through occupational well-being among older people, however; it is not known to what degree the respondents were experiencing healthy ageing. Recommendations: Future studies should further develop the understanding of doing in relation to being among older people.