School of Education, Macquarie University, Sydney 2109, Australia.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Apr 26;19(9):5274. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19095274.
Leisure provides a vehicle for women to develop friendships in later life, yet few studies have explored older women's experiences of social and emotional connections with leisure. This article provides insights into the perceived benefits a group of older women state they gain from participation in aquarobics for leisure. The main themes to emerge from the focus group interview data ( = 19 women, x¯ age = 75 years), illustrating the key motivational factor for participation in the classes, included an individual desire to improve one's overall fitness. Participants also expressed a strong sense of belonging from being able to socialize after the activity, and highly valued the welcoming atmosphere and feeling of comradery involved. The aquarobics instructor was noted as performing a very important role in ensuring delivery of an enjoyable class experience where participants experienced variety, had fun, and felt happy taking part. For this group of women, aquarobics forms a health promoting leisure context offering an important space for gaining subjective wellbeing, building social connectedness and resisting the dominant ideology of aging.
休闲为女性提供了在晚年发展友谊的途径，但很少有研究探讨老年女性在休闲方面的社会和情感联系的体验。本文深入探讨了一组老年女性表示从参与水中有氧健身操中获得的感知益处。从焦点小组访谈数据中出现的主要主题（= 19 名女性，x¯年龄= 75 岁），说明了参与该课程的主要动机因素包括改善整体健康的个人愿望。参与者还表达了在活动后进行社交的强烈归属感，并高度重视欢迎的氛围和参与其中的友情。水上有氧健身操教练被认为在确保愉快的课程体验方面发挥了非常重要的作用，在这种体验中，参与者体验到了多样性、乐趣，并感到快乐。对于这群女性来说，水中有氧健身操形成了一个促进健康的休闲环境，提供了一个获得主观幸福感、建立社会联系和抵制老龄化主导意识形态的重要空间。
