Rethinking Spaces of Leisure

How People Living with Dementia Use the Opportunities Leisure Centres Provide to Promote their Identity and Place in the World

Dados Bibliográficos

ID22172011
AutoresChristopher Russell (0000-0001-5165-9700, University of Worcester, autor correspondente), Holly Collison (0000-0003-2676-2225), Geoffery Z Kohe (0000-0001-6683-6669, Medway School of Pharmacy), Shirley Evans (0000-0001-6158-1433, University of Worcester), DAWN BROOKER (0000-0001-8636-5147, University of Worcester)
Ano2023
Volume6
Fascículo2
Páginas135-166
Data de publicação2023-06-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoInternational Journal of the Sociology of Leisure (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 2520-8683 • E-ISSN: 2520-8691
EditoraSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1007/s41978-022-00121-x
OpenAlexW4307405743
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas3
Referências citadas101

We report on research that found joining activities within community leisure and fitness centres (Centres) enabled people living with dementia to create meaning about everyday life and foster identity. Focusing on three Centres in England, the study was informed by the experiences and accounts of four people living with dementia, their life-partner (if applicable) and the sports professional most closely associated with the person as each participated within a range of leisure opportunities. The methodology was underpinned by phenomenological philosophy and utilised participative methods. Theoretically, the paper draws upon considerations of serious leisure that provide ways in which the participants’ experiences could be understood and wider implications considered. Conceptual themes we derived from the data analysis were place, citizenship, and belonging (where the Centre acting as a physical space was important); identity and interaction (where the focus was upon space making and embodiment); safe spaces and care (i.e., how wellbeing was sustained and how participation and meaningful engagement occurred within the space); and, the value of Centres as opportunity structures (where all of these themes coalesced). Amid current public health debates over resourcing and care, this research provides timely insights and continued needed debates on the relationship between adequate social, economic and political support/resourcing, and the ability of Centres to facilitate and sustain meaningful and safe spaces. Beyond, we suggest our findings offer learning that might extend to wider contexts; for example, through including Centres within social care and health initiatives, where emphasis will be upon participation as a citizen rather than as a patient

Aesthetics · Citizenship · Everyday life · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Sociology · Health disparities and outcomes · Psychology · Recreation, Leisure, Wilderness Management · Sport and Mega-Event Impacts