Recovery, quality of life and everyday occupations among older and younger adults with severe mental illness – a comparative cross-sectional study
Eklund, Mona LU
and Argentzell, Elisabeth
LU
(2026)
In BMC Geriatrics
26(1).
- Abstract
Background: Current research addressing recovery and everyday occupations among individuals with severe mental illness tends to focus on people of working age, whereas those aging with such conditions receive little attention. Whether younger and older users of mental health services differ regarding how they perceive their everyday occupations, personal recovery and quality of life seems unknown. This would be important knowledge in the support of people aging with a severe mental illness. Aim: To explore whether older and younger mental health service users differ in how they view and lead their everyday lives, focusing on everyday occupations, recovery and quality of life. Method: This was a comparative study including two... (More)
Background: Current research addressing recovery and everyday occupations among individuals with severe mental illness tends to focus on people of working age, whereas those aging with such conditions receive little attention. Whether younger and older users of mental health services differ regarding how they perceive their everyday occupations, personal recovery and quality of life seems unknown. This would be important knowledge in the support of people aging with a severe mental illness. Aim: To explore whether older and younger mental health service users differ in how they view and lead their everyday lives, focusing on everyday occupations, recovery and quality of life. Method: This was a comparative study including two subsamples. One was 49 older Day center (DC) attendees (≥ 65) and the other 65 DC attendees of working age (< 65). There was a two-year interval between data completion for the first subsample (2015) and the start of data collection for the second (2017). Data collected included measures of everyday occupations, personal recovery, and quality of life. Non-parametric statistics were used. Results: The older and the younger groups were comparable on satisfaction with everyday occupations and quality of life. The older group spent more hours in the DC and rated their occupational engagement higher, whereas they rated their activity level lower than did the younger group. There was a trend towards the older group having a higher level of recovery compared to the younger group. Conclusion: The groups were comparable in most of the areas investigated with the older group having a slight advantage. When living with a mental illness, expectations on life may be modified over the years resulting in higher acceptance of the situation. Additional studies are needed to further investigate possible difference between these two groups. Trial registration: The younger group was a subsample from a project registered with ClinicalTrial.gov. Reg. No. NCT02619318. Retrospectively registered: 20-11-2015. However, the current cross-sectional study was not based on the trial design and used only baseline data.
(Less)
- author
- Eklund, Mona
LU
and Argentzell, Elisabeth
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2026-12
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Activity, Ageing, Daily occupations, Quality of life, Recovery, Well-being
- in
- BMC Geriatrics
- volume
- 26
- issue
- 1
- article number
- 486
- publisher
- BioMed Central (BMC)
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:105035523318
- pmid:41882559
- ISSN
- 1471-2318
- DOI
- 10.1186/s12877-026-07359-0
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- b473e3ba-1b75-42a7-948a-d990602ccca7
- date added to LUP
- 2026-06-26 13:48:35
- date last changed
- 2026-06-27 03:00:03
@article{b473e3ba-1b75-42a7-948a-d990602ccca7,
abstract = {{<p>Background: Current research addressing recovery and everyday occupations among individuals with severe mental illness tends to focus on people of working age, whereas those aging with such conditions receive little attention. Whether younger and older users of mental health services differ regarding how they perceive their everyday occupations, personal recovery and quality of life seems unknown. This would be important knowledge in the support of people aging with a severe mental illness. Aim: To explore whether older and younger mental health service users differ in how they view and lead their everyday lives, focusing on everyday occupations, recovery and quality of life. Method: This was a comparative study including two subsamples. One was 49 older Day center (DC) attendees (≥ 65) and the other 65 DC attendees of working age (< 65). There was a two-year interval between data completion for the first subsample (2015) and the start of data collection for the second (2017). Data collected included measures of everyday occupations, personal recovery, and quality of life. Non-parametric statistics were used. Results: The older and the younger groups were comparable on satisfaction with everyday occupations and quality of life. The older group spent more hours in the DC and rated their occupational engagement higher, whereas they rated their activity level lower than did the younger group. There was a trend towards the older group having a higher level of recovery compared to the younger group. Conclusion: The groups were comparable in most of the areas investigated with the older group having a slight advantage. When living with a mental illness, expectations on life may be modified over the years resulting in higher acceptance of the situation. Additional studies are needed to further investigate possible difference between these two groups. Trial registration: The younger group was a subsample from a project registered with ClinicalTrial.gov. Reg. No. NCT02619318. Retrospectively registered: 20-11-2015. However, the current cross-sectional study was not based on the trial design and used only baseline data.</p>}},
author = {{Eklund, Mona and Argentzell, Elisabeth}},
issn = {{1471-2318}},
keywords = {{Activity; Ageing; Daily occupations; Quality of life; Recovery; Well-being}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{1}},
publisher = {{BioMed Central (BMC)}},
series = {{BMC Geriatrics}},
title = {{Recovery, quality of life and everyday occupations among older and younger adults with severe mental illness – a comparative cross-sectional study}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12877-026-07359-0}},
doi = {{10.1186/s12877-026-07359-0}},
volume = {{26}},
year = {{2026}},
}