A New Sense of Self and a New Lease of Life: Leisure in a Retirement Village

Abstract

As life expectancy increases society will face many unprecedented challenges. One of these will be housing tenure, for the type of home and community in which people live can have a direct impact on health and quality of life. In New Zealand, retirement village living is attracting considerable interest from an increasing proportion of the older population. The purpose of this paper is to consider how living in a retirement village influences the leisure experiences of 121 men and women, ranging in age from 69 to 91 years. Two themes that emerged from focus group discussions in 12 different villages were ‘sense of belonging’ and ‘new lease of life’. The residents argued that the lifestyle within a retirement village provided a supportive and invigorating environment that resonated with their changing circumstances and offered a chance for self-contentment and self-fulfilment in a way that prompted a new lease of life.