Background and objectives: Providing preferred leisure activities appears to be an important approach to support and empower people receiving adult day services (ADS) allowing them to age in place. To provide the conceptualization for a preference instrument, we actively involved people receiving ADS in exploring the content and structure of their preferences for leisure activities.
Research design and methods: We chose a concept mapping methodology and involved 16 people receiving ADS. We systematically reviewed the literature and conducted semistructured interviews to generate a set of 80 preferences. Analysis of structuring these preferences resulted in a 3-dimensional cube with 12 clusters. A graphical representation was then interpreted, and the clusters were labeled.
Results: Our conceptualization divides preferences for leisure activities into the following: 1. Take a trip, 2. Revel in memories and catch up on the news (most important), 3. Do something for yourself and come to rest, 4. Play intelligence and parlor games, 5. Make/produce and try something alone or in a group, 6. Keep fit and cheer others on in sports (least important), 7. Learn, educate, and share knowledge, 8. Have contact with other people, 9. Attend at entertainment, cultural, and amusement events, 10. Enjoy music, your homeland, or other countries, 11. Engage in outdoor activities, and 12. Get involved, offer support, and provide companionship.
Discussion and implications: Our results may lead to the development of instruments and thus opens the field for further research and theory building on preferences for leisure activities of people receiving ADS.
Keywords: Community; Dementia; Long-term care; Person-centered; Public involvement.
© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America.