Lived Experience Of Participation In Daily Occupations Among Older People Living In Social House In Armenia

Abstract

The aim of this qualitative study is to explore the lived experience of participation in daily occupations of older people living on Social House in Armenia A total of eight participants (1 male, 7 female) who lived in social house in Yerevan, Armenia were in-depth interviewed in this study. The Empirical Phenomenological Perspective method (Karlsson,1993) was applied for analysing the interviews to explore the meaning structure of participation in daily occupations in social house as expressed by participants' lived experiences. Findings has identified three main characteristics of participation in daily occupations of eight older people living in Social House: Change in place – change in life; being dependent as doer – not free in making choices; Lack of environmental possibilities in daily living. The findings of the study highlighted older people's personal perceptions of current living place and importance of supportive environmental conditions which facilitate or challenge their participation in daily occupations. Subjective perception of the current place of living and experienced changes in daily occupation were identified among older people living in social house, which limited their possibilities to choose and maintain autonomy in daily occupations and in their social participation.