Haidhir Harnisha B, Dahlan Akehsan B
Seremban Health Clinic, Rehabilitation Unit, Seremban, Malaysia.
Centre of Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Puncak Alam, Malaysia.
Br J Occup Ther. 2023 Jan;86(1):33-41. doi: 10.1177/03080226221117443. Epub 2022 Aug 7.
Engagement in occupations is an essential aspect of daily life among older people. Changes in age are often associated with changes in the pattern of engagement in occupations. However, the relationship between the actual and desired activities pattern of occupational engagement remains unclear among community-dwelling older adults in Malaysia. This study aimed to determine occupational engagement for each activity and occupational gaps related to domains among the older adults.
A cross-sectional study was conducted among 335 community-dwelling older people, using the Malay version of the Occupational Gaps Questionnaire (OGQ-M).
The findings indicate that there are significant differences in occupational engagement across domains: leisure ( < 0.001), social ( = 0.04) and total occupational domains ( < 0.001). There is a significant difference between actual and desired performed activities in doing laundry ( = 0.031), outdoor activities ( < 0.001), listening to the radio and watching television/video ( = 0.003), helping and supporting others ( = 0.019), travelling for pleasure ( < 0.001) and performing voluntary work ( = 0.025).
In conclusion, OGQ is a useful tool in screening the occupational gaps among community-dwelling older adults. Age, health and continuity of roles and responsibility as caretakers of the family are several factors that lead to higher occupational gaps among the older people in the community. With the emergence of occupational engagement and gaps, advancements in health care delivery are necessary for retirement planning among community-dwelling older adults in enhancing active participation towards better retirement life.
参与职业活动是老年人日常生活的一个重要方面。年龄的变化往往与职业参与模式的变化相关。然而，在马来西亚社区居住的老年人中，职业参与的实际活动模式与期望活动模式之间的关系仍不明确。本研究旨在确定老年人每项活动的职业参与情况以及与各领域相关的职业差距。
使用马来语版职业差距问卷（OGQ-M）对335名社区居住的老年人进行了横断面研究。
结果表明，各领域的职业参与存在显著差异：休闲领域（<0.001）、社会领域（=0.04）和总职业领域（<0.001）。在洗衣服（=0.031）、户外活动（<0.001）、听广播和看电视/视频（=0.003）、帮助和支持他人（=0.019）、娱乐旅行（<0.001）和从事志愿工作（=0.025）方面，实际进行的活动与期望进行的活动之间存在显著差异。
总之，OGQ是筛查社区居住老年人职业差距的有用工具。年龄、健康状况以及作为家庭照顾者角色和责任的连续性是导致社区中老年人职业差距较大的几个因素。随着职业参与和差距的出现，为社区居住的老年人制定退休计划时，医疗保健服务的进步对于提高他们积极参与以实现更好退休生活是必要的。
