Tehranian elderly people's experiences about leisure time activities and recreations

The aim of this study was to explain the various style of leisure activity and recreation of elderly people in Tehran. To achieve this purpose, 17 older participants within theage range of 65-86 years who were selected through purposeful sampling undertooksemi structured interviews. A conventional qualitative content analysis was used foranalyzing the data. The themes captured were classified into five main categories. Thecategories were: (1) Common elderly’s leisure activities, (2) Barriers and obstaclesof leisure activity, (3) Family role and leisure activity, (4) Effects of recreation onelderlys’ life, and (5) Leisure activity promotion approaches. Some distinctivethemes within each of the categories were identified. The findings of this study showed a dissatisfactory image and improper attitude to leisure time activities and recreations in our older people, according totheir lived experiences and perceptions.