Cultural activities for older adults: An ethnography in an age-friendly city

Tingle, Alison Jane (2021) Cultural activities for older adults: An ethnography in an age-friendly city. Doctoral thesis (PhD), Manchester Metropolitan University.

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Abstract

Increasingly, older adults are being directed towards cultural and leisure activities to support ‘ageing in place’ where they can remain active citizens, independent and socially engaged within their local communities. This is also indicative of current policy trends towards focusing on strengths and assets of citizens and communities. This study explores the engagement of older adults in cultural activities, and how this supports a sense of self, place, and belonging in an age-friendly city. Research was conducted in two phases. Phase one, was designed to allow a contextual and situated understanding of how cultural activities are framed, structured, and supported within an age-friendly framework. Eight qualitative interviews, informed by appreciative inquiry, were undertaken with those working at an operational or strategic level to provide cultural activities for older adults. Phase two was a multi-site ethnography which enabled a rich and textualised understanding of older adults’ participation in cultural activities. Using thematic analysis across both data sets, my findings are generally supportive of the broad value of cultural participation to older adults’ sense of self, place, and belonging, but positions this as complex, multifaceted, dynamic, and temporal. Older adults’ participation was shown to be agentic, transitioning across roles of participant to volunteer and provider, and dependent on a range of social, historical, geographical, and practical considerations. Successful provision of cultural activities was reliant on the contribution of older adults, however my research established tensions, limitations, and boundaries within this and in relation to the inclusivity of ‘successful ageing’ and ‘citizenship’ that the age-friendly framework is based on. Issues of social isolation were another primary theme alongside the value of cultural activities to lessen this. Mason’s (2018) work on affinities enabled an insightful understanding of how connections and entanglements form in different ways through embodied practices within the activity spaces, thus highlighting the importance of commonality, solidarity, and materiality, as well as the significance of ‘being in the moment’ opportunities. Key to policy and practice, these findings suggest broadening definitions of culture to be more inclusive of the everyday and emphasise the significant role of social infrastructure in supporting cultural activity engagement.