Leisure in Later Life

247 Pages·2021·7.392 MB·English

by  Tania Wiseman

LEISURE STUDIES IN A GLOBAL ERA
Leisure in Later Life
Tania Wiseman
Leisure Studies in a Global Era
Series Editors
Karl Spracklen, Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, UK
Karen Fox, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
Inthisbookseries,wedefendleisureasameaningful,theoretical,framing
concept; and critical studies of leisure as a worthwhile intellectual and
pedagogical activity. This is what makes this book series distinctive: we
want to enhance the discipline of leisure studies and open it up to a
richerrangeofideas;and,conversely,wewantsociology,culturalgeogra-
phies and other social sciences and humanities to open up to engaging
withcriticalandrigorousargumentsfromleisurestudies.Gettingbeyond
concerns about the grand project of leisure, we will use the series to
demonstratethatleisuretheoryiscentraltounderstandingwiderdebates
about identity, postmodernity and globalisation in contemporary soci-
eties across the world. The series combines the search for local, qualita-
tively rich accounts of everyday leisure with the international reach of
debates in politics, leisure and social and cultural theory. In doing this,
we will show that critical studies of leisure can and should continue to
play a central role in understanding society. The scope will be global,
strivingtobetrulyinternationalandtrulydiverseintherangeofauthors
and topics.
Editorial Board
John Connell, Professor of Geography, University of Sydney, USA
Yoshitaka Mori, Associate Professor,Tokyo University of the Arts, Japan
Smitha Radhakrishnan, Assistant Professor,Wellesley College, USA
DianeM.Samdahl,ProfessorofRecreationandLeisureStudies,Univer-
sity of Georgia, USA
Chiung-TzuLucettaTsai,AssociateProfessor,NationalTaipeiUniversity,
Taiwan
Walter van Beek, Professor of Anthropology and Religion, Tilburg
University,The Netherlands
Sharon D.Welch, Professor of Religion and Society, MeadvilleTheolog-
ical School, Chicago, USA
LeslieWitz, Professor of History, University of theWestern Cape, South
Africa.
More information about this series at
http://www.palgrave.com/gp/series/14823
Tania Wiseman
Leisure in Later Life
TaniaWiseman
Robert Dodd Building
School of Health Sciences
Eastbourne, UK
Leisure Studies in a Global Era
ISBN 978-3-030-71671-4 ISBN 978-3-030-71672-1 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-71672-1
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Dedicated to John, who loved tea and biscuits, and Gavin, Katie and
James, who I love with all of my heart, and with whom I hope to grow very,
very old.
Preface: Clearing the Ground
I have always been curious about later life and what might be waiting
for me if I live a very long time. In my early twenties I trained as an
occupational therapist in order to help people with illness and disad-
vantages to be more engaged in their lives. I worked as a therapist with
older people, once their basic needs were met I ensured that hobbies
werenotneglectedsothattherewasareasontogetupanddressedwhen
it was difficult. Cooking and gardening were the main activities that I
adapted and adjusted to help people engage in their lives. Gardening
tookmoreeffortbutgavemorereward.Therewereclinicalsettingswhere
people never normally went outside, I rearranged them to accommodate
mobility or other safety concerns so that people could feel the rain on
their faces and get their hands in the soil. Chair gardening, palliative
gardeningandallotmentgardeningallincreasedpeople’smotivationand
improvedclinicaloutcomes.Isecuredapart-timeteachingpostandsoon
I was modelling therapeutic use of gardening to occupational therapy
students. Research in partnership with those students focused on the
benefits of therapeutic gardening.
vii
viii Preface: Clearing the Ground
Itookanadditionalpart-timetemporaryresearchpost,evaluatingresi-
dents’ experience of gardening in sheltered housing. This was my first
experience of working with independent older people. It challenged the
thingsIwasreadingandteachingaboutlaterlife,myexperienceofolder
people was conditioned by illness, disability and power relations that led
to compliant participation. My new experience of older people opened
my eyes to a more enticing prospect of what might be waiting for me
when I grow old.
An opportunity to lead a second gardening group presented. An Age
UK programme leader approached me offering £500 funding to intro-
duce a gardening group to a sheltered housing unit. My employer gave
me scholarly activity time, so I used that to plan and implement a
participatory project. My research students carried out literature reviews
and evaluations, and we found that gardening and the outdoors were
becoming hot topics.
My success in encouraging later life leisure gardening inspired this
thesis, informed my role as a lecturer in occupational therapy, and
directed my occupational therapy research students’ work. At the begin-
ningofmyresearchjourney,Ifocusedoncreatinggardeninggroupswith
olderpeoplewholivedinshelteredhousing.Whatfollowsisastoryabout
leisure transition in sheltered housing, this story highlights a research
problem that became the focus of this book. In this preface to the main
research,Idrawondirectquotationsandfieldnotesfromthegardensto
presentacoherentstoryfromcompositeplaces(Mair,2009).Realplaces,
real people, real context, but blurred in order to provide anonymity for
the people involved.
Thisstoryraisesquestionsabouthowleisureisconstrainedinsheltered
housing, and what this means for research on leisure in later life.
Week 1: ‘What are you up to?’
Sick with nerves, I was finally preparing to meet with the residents,
take a chance to repeat my gardening magic and get them gardening
together. I had already visited on-site, secured funding from a national
charity, ensured formal support from the landlords and assistance from
the warden. I was walking into the unknown on my active ageing
mission. Prior experience had taught me that I could expect just about
anything, hence the nerves.
Preface: Clearing the Ground ix
I had allowed myself to get too excited and invested, fighting down
feelings of enthusiasm, imagining awesome success, writing papers and
books, becoming a grand advisor on such matters. On that first late
winter morning I was too nervous to eat breakfast, wondering how on
earth I had got myself into this situation.
I drove to the house early, parked up and waited in my cosy camper
van for half an hour. Then it was time to go and see what was waiting
for me inside the house. The warden greeted me at the door with the
funders and we walked into the lounge to meet the assembled group of
twelve residents. Before we had settled into our seats the interrogation
began on three fronts;
“Have the council sent you?…. What?? (Exaggerated surprise/horror) The
lottery funded you? – they fund all those druggies - Are you going to grow
cannabis? We know what you students are like!…What are you up to? No-
one ever does anything nice for folk like us, not without wanting something
in return”.
I was not offended, I’ve heard worse. They spent an hour grilling
me about my intentions, the other ‘organisational’ people were pinned
back in their allocated parker knoll chairs, eyes wide, mouths neutral,
wondering what they had walked into. Very early in the discussion, I
told the group that there was a £500 budget and they would be able to
choosehowthatwasspent.Atsomepoint,teaandbiscuitswereprovided
and we started to imagine as a group what it would be like to do a little
bit of gardening, spend some of that money.They were very wary, but I
seemedharmless,sowhenIofferedtoprovidesomeplantsandsuggested
asmalltemporaryprojectofherbplanters,theyagreedthatmightbeOK.
It was decided that I would plan, choose, buy, bring and organise it all.
Then if there were any problems, with the other residents, or managers,
that I would deal with that, and take it all away again. We established
that Monday mornings would be a good time for all of us, I waved a
cheery goodbye and told them I was looking forward to seeing them the
following week. I had one loud flat reply from one of the residents.
“I probably won’t be here.”
x Preface: Clearing the Ground
The warden tried to lighten the moment, said she was really looking
forward to doing some lovely gardening. We all paused and looked at
each other in awkward silence. I left. All the way home in the van I was
shaking my head, asking myself what on earth I was doing. I wasn’t at
all sure that there would be anyone there the following week. I was also
concerned that it was early spring and the weather could be cruel.That
difficultbeginningbalancedsomeofthepowerdynamics,butwithtime
and distance, I now realise that it let me know how vulnerable they felt.
Theywantedmetofeelsomeoftheiranxieties.Ireallydid,everySunday
was a sleepless night, every Monday was an anxiety-fuelled breakfast-less
start to the week.
Week 3: Business as usual
I sat with the group laughing, as usual, waiting for my cup of tea,
talking about what we would do today, very much queen of the castle.
I noticed it all, the slight bristling between a couple of the ladies, the
overemphasis of certain words conveying the subversive nature of our
mission. The way ‘garden’ was said in a quieter tone, almost inhaled,
but with big mouth movements, mouthing the inappropriate words, as
if garden was a naughty one. I sat deliberately with my back to the
wall, encircled by my group. I could see the poster ‘gardening group—
all welcome’, and the ‘gardening update newsletter’ was dotted around,
inviting anyone in the housing complex to try a few of the herbs we
had planted, or join us to do some gardening. Tea came, the chatter
continued, what had happened since last week, the surprise that no one
hadcomplained,infacteveryonehadbeensayinghowniceitalllooked.
Then I saw her, standing a few feet away, halfway behind the pillar, in
a blue checked housecoat, the kind that 1950s housewives wore. She
was new, but clutching a pair of secateurs to her chest, ready uniformed
and armed for some outdoors housework. When she caught my eye she
stepped forward a pace and said quite loudly;
“I want to join your group”
I smiled and invited her to sit with us. I had saved a couple of seats
withmybagsandcoat,andswiftlymovedtheseintoone,creatingaspace
for her that meant she was directly in my line of sight, eye contact was