Effects of social leisure engagement on the psychological, cognitive, and physical wellbeing of older adults

Lead Research Organisation: University College London
Department Name: Behavioural Science and Health

Abstract

This research aims to explore the impact of social leisure engagement (activities that include or facilitate social interaction) on older adults' psychological, cognitive, and physical wellbeing, and to identify important ways to increase engagement. In the UK, one-fourth of the population is aged 55 or above. Ageing poses challenges to one's everyday life due to increased risk of depression, cognitive decline, and deteriorating health, which often interplay with reduced social leisure engagement. Social leisure engagement is considered a modifiable behaviour that supports healthy ageing, which contains active ingredients (components that make up an activity) that can activate various mechanisms to connect social leisure engagement with wellbeing improvements.

However, it remains to be tested empirically (a) if social leisure engagement has long-term impacts on older adults' wellbeing, (b) if the outcomes vary depending on the active ingredients involved in the activity, (c) what the potential mediators are, (d) if the association varies by population subgroups, and (e) what the individual, socio-cultural and environmental factors are that facilitate engagement amongst older adults.

To answer these questions, this project will use quantitative methods to analyse two British longitudinal datasets, the National Child Development Study and the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, and run 10 online qualitative focus groups with participants aged 55 and above.

We will explore three broad social and leisure activity categories that share similar active ingredients within each category:
>Workshop-based activities which involve group learning, formal structure and intellectual stimulation, e.g., arts/music groups, evening classes
>Community-based activities which involve affiliation, collaboration and community awareness, e.g., social clubs, volunteering, sports groups
>Asset-based activities which involve sensory and cognitive stimuli and aesthetic engagement, e.g., cinema, museum, the theatre, green space

For wellbeing outcomes, we will focus on:
>Psychological wellbeing, e.g., loneliness, depression, life satisfaction
>Cognitive wellbeing, e.g., memory, executive functioning, numeracy, and literacy skills
>Physical wellbeing, e.g., falls/fractures, pain, energy/fatigue

This research will benefit stakeholders within and beyond the academic community. For health service providers, this project will help inform the development of social prescribing schemes relating to the social leisure engagement. For policymakers, the project will help inform how they can make use of existing cultural, creative, and nature environment assets to support wellbeing as people age, and highlight where future funding will have the greatest impact. For cultural and community organisations, this project will provide insight into how activities can be developed to be more inclusive and to reach new audiences. For older people, this project will help to understand the factors that influence their own engagement and how and why they may want to increase their engagement to support healthy ageing.

To successfully engage with these audiences, this project will be overseen by a cross-sector advisory board and will incorporate a series of impact and public engagement activities. These include peer-reviewed publications, conference presentations, teaching materials, summary reports for policy and practice, blogs and briefings, a webinar, a research blog for media outlets, and an international knowledge exchange roundtable.

By identifying the long-term impact of social leisure engagement on wellbeing and mapping out the important enablers of engagement, this project has the potential to increase engagement rates in social leisure activities. It can also be used as evidence when formulating and developing schemes to integrate social leisure interventions into public health services and strategies that aim to support healthy ageing.

Technical Summary

This project explores the impact of social leisure engagement on older adults' psychological, cognitive, and physical wellbeing, and identifies important enablers that could enhance such engagement. It asks three interrelated research questions across three workstreams (WS) and focuses on three broad social leisure activity categories: workshop-based, community-based, and asset-based activities.

WS1: What are the long-term effects of social leisure engagement on older people's wellbeing? To answer this, we will use causal inference techniques (e.g., Arellano-Bond estimator modelling) to identify the direction of effect and isolate findings from confounders, and use causal mediation analysis to identify potential mediators that connect engagement to the outcomes. Data from the National Child Development Study (NCDS) and the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) will be analysed.

WS2: Are the associations between social leisure engagement and wellbeing universal across different groups of older adults? To answer this, we will use stratification and interaction analyses to explore if the associations vary by demographic background (gender, ethnicity, family composition), socio-economic factors (social status, wealth, housing tenure), or chronic health conditions, using data from NCDS and ELSA.

WS3: How can we support older adults to engage in social leisure activities? To answer this, we will use a mixed-methods design. Quantitatively, we will identify potential predictors of engagement at an individual-, socio-cultural-, and environmental-level using data from NCDS and ELSA. Qualitatively, we will run focus groups with participants aged 55 and above to discuss important enablers of social leisure engagement and the types of social leisure interventions (e.g., specific activities, context, format, delivery) that may support their engagement in these activities, which are not explicitly asked in NCDS and ELSA.
 
Description Conference at the Unforgotten Forces event, Age Scotland, Glasgow, UK, 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Third sector organisations
Results and Impact The event has increased interest in the subject areas amongst charitable representatives in Scotland.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
 
Description Designed a webpage for the project 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Media (as a channel to the public)
Results and Impact To reach broad audience, we have designed a webpage introducing the project, where we will regularly update research findings and outputs. The webpage will also be used to support focus groups recruitment and to communicate with stakeholders within and outside academia. Since we first announced the launch of the project and introduced the webpage on Twitter, we had already received 3.8k impressions. We have also been receiving information requests and interests from individuals about the project.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
URL https://sbbresearch.org/projects/we-engage-wellbeing-engagement-ageing/
 
Description First advisory board meeting 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Third sector organisations
Results and Impact We held our first advisory board meeting. The meeting included senior academics, stakeholders from the health sector (specialising in social prescribing) and ageing community sectors (The University of the Third Age, and the British Society of Gerontology Creative Ageing SIG), and lived-experience individuals (in total 11 people attended). The meeting provided an overview of the project, shared some preliminary, quantitative findings, and provided current plans for new empirical research and consulted our advisors about our proposed focus groups questions (e.g., the language and wording of the questions, participants recruitment for focus groups). The meeting ran very successfully, with many valuable insights being shared. Our advisors were all very engaged and enthusiastic about the project. After the meeting, we have sent them a draft of the recruitment survey and revised focus groups questions for them to review and feedback on.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2024