Granö Sirpa, Tiilikainen Elisa, Miettinen Sonja, Kontu Elina
Department of Social Sciences, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland.
Department of Social Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland.
Int J Qual Stud Health Well-being. 2025 Dec;20(1):2557076. doi: 10.1080/17482631.2025.2557076. Epub 2025 Sep 10.
To increase understanding of the transition from work and day activity services to old-age retirement among people with intellectual disabilities. The research questions are as follows: 1) How are change and continuity present in the transitions to old-age retirement of older people with an intellectual disability? 2) What is the role of the person's own decision-making in the transition process?
A longitudinal case study approach was used. The main data consist of qualitative interviews from a one-year period with four people with an intellectual disability aged 59-65. Secondary data include photographs taken by the participants and the researcher's field notes. The data were analysed using qualitative content analysis.
The transition from day activity services to retirement appeared to be fluid and unexpected. Only one of the participants retired during the follow-up as planned, because another's retirement was postponed and two others moved back and forth between retirement and work and day activities. The participants had limited decision-making opportunities in the transition process, while staff emphasized supporting continuity.
Recognition of the non-linear and diverse transition paths and supporting their own decision-making are important for the well-being of older people with intellectual disabilities in later life.
增进对智障人士从工作和日间活动服务向老年退休过渡的理解。研究问题如下：1）智障老年人向老年退休过渡过程中的变化和连续性是怎样的？2）个人自主决策在过渡过程中起到什么作用？
采用纵向案例研究方法。主要数据包括对四名年龄在59至65岁的智障人士进行的为期一年的定性访谈。次要数据包括参与者拍摄的照片和研究人员的实地记录。使用定性内容分析法对数据进行分析。
从日间活动服务到退休的过渡似乎是灵活且出乎意料的。在随访期间，只有一名参与者按计划退休，因为另一名参与者的退休被推迟，还有两名在退休、工作和日间活动之间来回变动。参与者在过渡过程中的决策机会有限，而工作人员强调支持连续性。
认识到非线性和多样的过渡路径并支持他们自己的决策，对智障老年人晚年的幸福很重要。
