Activities and Lifestyle Patterns of Older Adults

1. Activities and Lifestyle Patterns of Older Adults Lesa Lorenzen Huber Indiana University

2. Introduction Activities and lifestyle provide the ebb and flow of life. In this session we will: • explore current patterns of activities and lifestyle in later life • consider future trends: what activities are the boomers likely to participate in? • consider the implications for the effects of air pollution on the health of older adults.

3. What are the kinds of activities people do? • Activities can be categorized as core activities or balance activities • Core activities tend to persist throughout life (e.g. time with family, personal care, reading) • Balance activities are related more to personal identity, life course stages, and roles (e.g. outdoor recreation, travel, and sports)

4. What are the kinds of activities people do? • The Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA) categorizes activities as obligatory, committed, or discretionary activities • Obligatory: personal care, sleep, etc. • Committed: paid work, housework, etc. • Discretionary: socializing, hobbies, etc.

5. BLSA: Changes in Obligatory Activities

6. BLSA: Changes in Committed Activities

7. BLSA: Changes in Discretionary Activities

8. Legend of SymbolsSlides 8-12 • 1960’s men (no data for women) • 1970s men • 1970s women • 1980s men • 1980s women • 1990s men • 1990s women

9. BLSA: Changes in Paid Work, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and 90’s

10. BLSA: Changes in Housework Work, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and 90’s

11. BLSA: Changes in Socializing, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and 90’s

12. BLSA: Changes in Personal Care, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and 90’s

13. Findings from National Time Studies, 60’s, 70’s and 90’s • Decreasing work time for paid employees overall but increasing work time for women • Decreasing family care by women • Increasing family care by men • Sharp increases in total leisure (mass media, adult education, recreation) • Decreases in some forms of leisure (visiting and other informal social life)

14. Summary of BLSA Findings • Older adults spend the most time on obligatory and passive leisure • They spend the least time on committed activities and active leisure. • Time spent on paid work has increased for women, while time spent on housework has decreased • Men have decreased time spent on paid work and increased time spent on housework

15. Activity Participation Findings From BLSA Since 1996 • Increase in medium-high intensity leisure activity participation for men, no change for women. • No change in moderate intensity activity participation for men or women • Decrease in number of sedentary men, no change for women

16. What explains the changes in activity participation as people age? • People generally reduce the number of activities they engage in and the amount of time they spend on each activity. • Carstensen defines this narrowing as increasing selectivity of activities that are found to be meaningful, rather than seeing this change as disengagement from society.

17. AARP 2002 Study of “Funstyles” of Adults

18. AARP 2002 Study of “Funstyles” of Adults

19. Summary: AARP 2002 Study of “Funstyles” of Adults • Most of adults’ discretionary time is spent at or near home • Most activities are low intensity • The relative order and priorities of what Americans consider “fun” has not changed from 01-02 • Some changes from 01-02 may be due to “seasonality” and slight malaise from September 11.

20. Another explanation for the changes in activity participation as people age A Continuum of Expressive Involvement Intensity • Find the last page of your handouts • Identify your age cohort at the top of the page • Rank the three things that you do most often • Rank the three things that you do least often • Compare rankings with two people near you

22. Summary: Gordon, Gaitz, and Scott: Leisure participation as a function of increased age • There is a decrease in activities that are outside the home • There is a decrease in activities that are physically demanding.

23. Summary: Activity and Lifestyle Patterns of Older Adults • Most changes in activities with age are gradual. There is increasing selectivity of most meaningful activities. • Older people are more likely to be involved in sedentary activities than younger people. (e.g. TV, visiting, reading) • Older people spend more time on all activities of daily living than younger people. (e.g. sleep, rest, eating, shopping, health care)

24. Summary: Activity and Lifestyle Patterns of Older Adults Changes in activities with age • Decrease in activities that are highly active, external to the home, and physically demanding • Increase in home-centered sociability and media-based symbolic interaction

25. Summary: Activity and Lifestyle Patterns of Older Adults Gender affects activity patterns and lifestyle. • Men do more household and yard maintenance, and are more likely to work outside the home • Men increase participation in home-based activities with increasing age • Women do more housework, child care, volunteer work, and participate in more voluntary associations • Women increase participation in solitary activities

26. Summary: Activity and Lifestyle Patterns of Older Adults Activity and lifestyle patterns are affected by racial and ethnic status • African Americans are more likely to be involved in church related activities, but less likely to be involved in other activities. • Hispanic and Italian elders are more likely to be involved in family-related activities than English or Scandinavians. • Today’s elders of color have a experienced a lifetime of discrimination and may perceive barriers to participation in many leisure activities

27. Summary: Activity and Lifestyle Patterns of Older Adults Activity and lifestyle patterns are affected by socioeconomic status • Higher income people are more likely to be involved in a wider range of activities. • Higher and middle income people are more likely to be involved in sports, reading, clubs, and gardening. • Lower income people are more inclined to visiting with family and friends, crafts, and television.

28. Summary: Activity and Lifestyle Patterns of Older Adults Activity and lifestyle patterns are affected by socioeconomic status (continued) • Middle-class more community oriented • Working and lower class more home centered • Socioeconomic differences in activity participation are mostly due to the cost of pursuing the activity, not socioeconomic differences. • Reduction in income in later life leads to barriers in community involvement

29. Summary: Activity and Lifestyle Patterns of Older Adults Changes in leisure are affected by health and mobility. The following activities show decreases in participation: • Clubs • Church activities • Libraries • Restaurants • Parks • Recreation Centers • Sporting Events • Visiting

30. Future Trends: Older adults are increasingly better educated

31. Future Trends: (Most) Older adults are increasingly better financially prepared

32. Preparation for Retirement, 2001Differences Based on Racial/Ethnic Status

34. Future Trends: Older adults are in increasingly better health

35. Future Trends: Aging in Place • “Aging in Place” will become even more viable than today, with technologies making homes “smarter.” • Smart homes may be limited to those that can afford it. • Those that are financially able to buy LTC insurance will have more lifestyle options. • Those with limited financial resources will face shrinking options available through Medicaid. • There may be an ever-increasing gap in lifestyles between those with and without financial resources

36. Future Trends: Migration • Larger numbers of older adults will live in suburbs, fewer in central cities • Services will continue to re-locate to the suburbs • Boomers will feel confident about re-locating, especially to small towns, rural communities, or other countries • Boomers are more likely to choose independent housing in communities than large isolated retirement communities

37. Future Trends: MigrationDream Towns for Baby Boomers 1. Loveland/Fort Collins, Colorado 2. Bellingham, Washington 3. Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill, North Carolina 4. Sarasota, Florida 5. Fayetteville, Arkansas

38. 6. Charleston, South Carolina 7. Asheville, North Carolina 8. San Diego, California 9. San Antonio, Texas 10. Santa Fe, New Mexico 11. Gainesville, Florida 12. Iowa City, Iowa 13. Portsmouth, New Hampshire 14. Spokane, Washington 15. Ashland, Oregon

39. Future Trends: Leisure and Physical Activity Participation • Between 1988 and 1995 there was an 18% increase in sport, fitness, and outdoor activities and a 21% increase in fitness-specific activities in the baby boom population • Boomers are very likely to carry their orientation toward fitness into retirement • There may be a high demand for recreational resources and pressure for access to competitive and high-risk sports from baby boomers as they retire • The high level of educational attainment among baby boomers may affect what types of leisure activities they prefer • Research suggests that higher levels of education are correlated with larger leisure repertoires.

40. Future Trends: Mass Media Usage

41. Future Trends: Internet Usage

42. Future Trends: Predictions of Leisure Opportunities (Dychtwald) • “Retirement Zone” stores • Adventure travel services • Apprenticeships • Use of “experience agents” • Mature “escorts” • Mature dating services

43. Summary: Activities and Lifestyle Patterns of Older Adults • Individuals vary more from each other than they vary as they age. Change within an individual is gradual • Most of adults’ discretionary time is spent at or near home • Activities that are most essential and universal, and those with the lowest physical and mental demands, take up a larger fraction of older persons’ days

44. Summary : Activities and Lifestyle Patterns of Older Adults • Adults are increasingly selective toward meaningful activities as they age • The relative order and priorities of what Americans consider “fun” has not changed from 01-02 • Longitudinal changes mirror cross-sectional changes, except that women have increased paid work involvement as they age and younger women have decreased the amount of time spent in housework

45. Summary: Future Trends • People are approaching later life better educated, better financially prepared, and in better health • Technology will enable people to “age in place” in their homes • Boomers are likely to remain in suburbs or relocate to small towns • Boomers may have higher participation rates in sports, exercise, and fitness

46. Effects of Air Pollution on the Health of Older Adults AND Activities and Lifestyle Patterns of Older Adults • How might these activity patterns interact with air pollution and health effects? • Other comments or questions?

47. Activities and Lifestyle Patterns of Older Adults Lesa Lorenzen Huber Center on Aging and Aged Indiana University lehuber@indiana.edu

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