Getting Old with a Good Life: Research on the Everyday Life Patterns of Active Older People

Abstract

In 2030, 22% of Hong Kong’s total population will be aged 60 or older. Unfortunately, the Hong Kong Government still views ageing within the context of ‘disengagement theory’, and discussions of ‘Active Ageing’ remain scarce in Hong Kong. In order to define and advocate Active Ageing in our local context, and to urge the Government to plan comprehensively for the ageing society, we conducted a research (from 2007 to 2009) on the life patterns of active older people. Our objectives were to discover: (1) how active older people organized their everyday lives; and (2) how the urban environment enabled older people to maintain a quality lifestyle. Invited to semi-structured interviews, 50 informants had responded to a set of questions about their everyday life patterns. They also commented freely on the quality of their lives and the city’s degree of age-friendliness. We tried to categorize and analyze the daily life patterns of our informants according to the themes established by the Quality of Life model established by Gabriel and Bowling Ageing and Society, 24(5), 675–691 (2004) and that of Raphael et al. Health & Place, 7, 179–196. (2001). With the findings, we construct a schematic summary of ‘Active Ageing’ for the local context. We conclude that older people, when in good health and possessing sufficient resources, strive for a quality life filled with possibilities. Our research aims to help enact a ‘paradigm shift’ that goes beyond the disengagement theory, while establishing a context planning for the coming of the ageing society in Hong Kong.