Leisure time assessment from past to today: Phenomenological research with the elderly

The aim of the study is to compare the perception and evaluation of the participant individuals in their youth and their aging period, to determine the change in the perception of free time in the aging process of the participants, and to reach the subjective judgment of the free time evaluations of the elderly. The research was carried out by using the phenomenology research design, which is one of the qualitative research methods. Using the semi-structured questionnaire, interviews were made with 5 women and 5 men aged 65 and over who are currently active, lasting about 40 minutes. During the analysis of the data, the themes for the answers of each question were determined and the kappa value was found to be 1.00 by making a kappa analysis to ensure the reliability of the research.With this study, the types of activities in the leisure time evaluations of the participants in their educational life, working life and retirement periods, their satisfaction or regret for their evaluation and their subjective comparisons were determined. As a result of the analysis of the data, it was determined that the participants' youth and old age periods did not differ in their leisure time assessments in those who belong to a particular activity or community, but there were differences in the evaluations of the participants who were involved in social activities. It has been analyzed that these differences arise from the experience of taking ages and the change of economic, social and cultural conditions, and they prefer recreational activities that may be more beneficial for them in terms of psychological, sociological and cognitive aspects while doing social activities in old age.Individuals who made one type of activity in the past and who expect only one benefit from this activity; It was determined that he participated in many activities in the old age periods and there was an expectation of benefits for many different fields from these activities. Keywords: Leisure Time, Recreational, Older People, Activity Theory, Active Aging