SUBJECTIVE EXPERIENCE OF (DIS)ABILITIES: A QUALITATIVE APPROACH TO PHYSICAL ABILITY OF NONAGENARIANS

摘要

About one third of oldest old resides in the community and is relatively independent in their daily activities. However, we know more about the disabilities of the nonagenarians than about their everyday abilities of these independent but very old individuals.In this research we report the results of qualitative life course interviews of the Vitality 90+ Study from Tampere, Finland. Forty-five (20 men) nonagenarians were interviewed in their homes in 2012 and interview themes included questions about everyday activities such as shopping and main features of the living environment. The analysis focused on subjective experiences of own ability to perform everyday activities and reflections on how the living environment affected these experiences.Results show that doing grocery shopping is a valued activity and for those who are able to go shopping it is also part of their daily exercise regimen. Relatives, friends and neighbors often had a significant role in enabling shopping activity. Subjective experience of physical functioning therefore relied on successful interplay of personal physical ability, features of the environment and relationships with other people.Studying subjective functional ability offers an important perspective for understanding the quality of everyday life of nonagenarians. To fully comprehend the physical functioning of nonagenarians, it is necessary to study the interplay of social relationships, living environment and mundane activities like shopping.