Examining layers of community in leisure contexts: a case analysis of older adults in an exercise intervention

Title: Examining layers of community in leisure contexts: a case analysis of older adults in an exercise intervention
Creator: Dionigi, Rylee A.; Lyons, Kevin
Relation: Journal of Leisure Research Vol. 42, Issue 2, p. 317-340
Relation: http://www.nrpa.org/jlr
Publisher: National Recreation and Park Association
Resource Type: journal article
Date: 2010
Description: This paper explores the dimensions of community that feature in the lives of older people involved in an exercise intervention. It uses McMillan and Chavis' (1986) theory of psychological sense of community as a sensitizing construct (Ragin, 1994). The results show that participants experienced a sense of community on different levels. They felt a sense of belonging and emotional connection to the gym environment, the University (including the researchers and students), and the broader community of 'active' older people. Influence and fulfilment of needs were not explicitly experienced in the exercise context, but on a broader community level. Therefore, the exercise context was a medium through which 'active' older people could feel a psychological sense of community within a 'healthy aging' culture.
Subject: psychological sense of community; qualitative research; aging
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/932694
Identifier: uon:11426
Identifier: ISSN:0022-2216
Language: eng
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