Participation of older adults in community and in communities of practice

Abstract

The paper presents the analysis of a focus group conducted in March 2017 in the municipality of Ajdovščina as part of the project Old Guys Say Yes to Community. In collaboration with European partners, this project investigates the inclusion of older adults (particularly men over 60) in practices of community and communities of practice. The analysis in the present article relates to the ways the participants of the focus group in Ajdovščina notice and understand the participation of older adults in their local environment, and the barriers and opportunities they see for greater inclusion of men over 60 in such practices. Using the method of open coding and identifying preliminary thematic categories as well as selective coding and synthesizing conceptual categories, the research found that the focus group participants defined their social environment through its sociological aspects and societal values, its most vulnerable populations (which in their estimation included older adults), and survival strategies and creativity as the contributions senior citizens make to the development of the community. They mainly related the challenges and visions of a life of dignity and quality for older adults to care and services, while they saw possibilities for communities of practice in the already existing and diverse educational and study programmes, spreading information and awareness about them, and a reconsideration of re- placement activities for the inclusion of men (over 60) in social life. In addition, emphasis was given to the importance of raising men‘s awareness about the meaning of looking for new social milieus already during the process of retiring, the readiness to implement good practices in the local environment, etc. The findings of focus group analysis are relevant for further research into the inclusion of older men in the community anywhere in Slovenia and Europe where such thinking is only beginning to gain a toehold.