Doing and belonging : A photo-elicitation study on place attachment of older adults living in depopulated rural areas
Taei, Afsaneh LU
; Jönson, Håkan
LU
; Kottorp, Anders
and Granbom, Marianne
LU
(2024)
In Journal of Occupational Science
- Abstract
Background: The relationship between doing and belonging is rooted in individuals’ engagement in meaningful occupations, which contributes to their sense of connectedness. The meaningfulness of occupation relates closely to the context in which it is performed. However, despite its importance, context is often overlooked and underexplored. Aim: To explore how older adults living in depopulated rural areas depict positive and negative features of their neighbourhoods and how belonging was connected to doing and participation. Methods: We utilised data from photo-elicited interviews with 7 men and 10 women, aged 68 to 88 years, from depopulated rural areas in southern Sweden. Data were analysed using Rowles’ place attachment framework... (More)
Background: The relationship between doing and belonging is rooted in individuals’ engagement in meaningful occupations, which contributes to their sense of connectedness. The meaningfulness of occupation relates closely to the context in which it is performed. However, despite its importance, context is often overlooked and underexplored. Aim: To explore how older adults living in depopulated rural areas depict positive and negative features of their neighbourhoods and how belonging was connected to doing and participation. Methods: We utilised data from photo-elicited interviews with 7 men and 10 women, aged 68 to 88 years, from depopulated rural areas in southern Sweden. Data were analysed using Rowles’ place attachment framework with a thematic analysis. Results: The participants expressed how belonging was connected to doing by depicting resources in the area, how community was created through interaction, the importance of past actions for present belonging, how they acted on pride and feelings of obligation, as well as how they experienced challenges for doing and belonging. Discussion: Our study revealed a reciprocal relationship of doing and belonging. Specifically, doing strengthened participants’ belonging, while feelings of belonging resulted in loyalty and motivated supportive community actions. Importantly, participants’ actions were more driven by a collective interest in community welfare than personal gain. Conclusions: This study contributes to occupational science by knowing how doing supports belonging and vice versa. Furthermore, our study showed that belonging can serve as a catalyst for older adults to engage in their community, which likely reduces the risk of social exclusion.
(Less)
- author
- Taei, Afsaneh
LU
; Jönson, Håkan
LU
; Kottorp, Anders
and Granbom, Marianne
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2024
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- epub
- subject
- keywords
- ageing-in-place, community, connectedness, context, engagement, environment, Occupational science
- in
- Journal of Occupational Science
- publisher
- School of Occupational Therapy
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85198120821
- ISSN
- 1442-7591
- DOI
- 10.1080/14427591.2024.2365650
- project
- Older adults living in disadvantaged areas. A mixed methods study on homes, neighborhood transitions and wellbeing.
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- additional info
- Publisher Copyright: © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
- id
- 3dc4cd7c-ff2a-43a0-bb50-7c318448c148
- date added to LUP
- 2024-08-09 11:46:18
- date last changed
- 2024-08-09 13:45:28
@article{3dc4cd7c-ff2a-43a0-bb50-7c318448c148,
abstract = {{<p>Background: The relationship between doing and belonging is rooted in individuals’ engagement in meaningful occupations, which contributes to their sense of connectedness. The meaningfulness of occupation relates closely to the context in which it is performed. However, despite its importance, context is often overlooked and underexplored. Aim: To explore how older adults living in depopulated rural areas depict positive and negative features of their neighbourhoods and how belonging was connected to doing and participation. Methods: We utilised data from photo-elicited interviews with 7 men and 10 women, aged 68 to 88 years, from depopulated rural areas in southern Sweden. Data were analysed using Rowles’ place attachment framework with a thematic analysis. Results: The participants expressed how belonging was connected to doing by depicting resources in the area, how community was created through interaction, the importance of past actions for present belonging, how they acted on pride and feelings of obligation, as well as how they experienced challenges for doing and belonging. Discussion: Our study revealed a reciprocal relationship of doing and belonging. Specifically, doing strengthened participants’ belonging, while feelings of belonging resulted in loyalty and motivated supportive community actions. Importantly, participants’ actions were more driven by a collective interest in community welfare than personal gain. Conclusions: This study contributes to occupational science by knowing how doing supports belonging and vice versa. Furthermore, our study showed that belonging can serve as a catalyst for older adults to engage in their community, which likely reduces the risk of social exclusion.</p>}},
author = {{Taei, Afsaneh and Jönson, Håkan and Kottorp, Anders and Granbom, Marianne}},
issn = {{1442-7591}},
keywords = {{ageing-in-place; community; connectedness; context; engagement; environment; Occupational science}},
language = {{eng}},
publisher = {{School of Occupational Therapy}},
series = {{Journal of Occupational Science}},
title = {{Doing and belonging : A photo-elicitation study on place attachment of older adults living in depopulated rural areas}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14427591.2024.2365650}},
doi = {{10.1080/14427591.2024.2365650}},
year = {{2024}},
}