Elderly people on the quality of life and engaging in physical activity

The research practices in social pedagogy are mainly concerned with an individual's everyday life and various situations people find themselves in. In this context, the elderly belong to the groups attracting a lot of attention in this field. This is due to an issue of an ageing population and the ever-present marginalisation of older individuals, which based on the belief that they represent a burden for our society. This situation has led to the need for flexible transitioning into the old age and the quality lifestyle choices for older people. For this reason, this thesis focusses on the old age and explores the everyday lives of active elderly members of a Slovenian sports club. The research, which aims to explore the value of physical activity for the quality of life of said individuals, is based on their own perspective as it represents a fairly new area of academic interest. The thesis also deals with the question of how people taking part in the survey view the conditions and factors determining their physical activity and their quality of life. The theoretical part starts with the conceptualisation of the notion of ageing and an overview of the changes this process brings. It then focusses on the construct known as »quality of life«, which serves to illustrate the notion of active ageing and a healthy lifestyle of active elderly people. In the thesis, the construct of life quality theoretically relates to the concept of social capital and orientation in one's environment as well as to the lifespan development paradigm. The thesis also addresses the role of physical activity in elderly people and their own views on the life of an elderly person. The last part presents an outline of the programmes based on a variety of physical activities for older people in Slovenia and their detailed descriptions. The findings of the qualitative research are based on four focussed interviews, two with active elderly individuals and two with the coaches overseeing the morning exercise routine. The main goal of the research was to determine the factors that the elderly consider vital for sustaining a high level of physical activity and quality of live in the old age. The inquiry joins two different perspectives, namely that of the elderly included in the exercise routine and that of their coaches. With the help of the research it was possible to determine the main factors that the elderly consider vital in ensuring a quality lifestyle and a high level of physical activity in the old age. The correlation between physical activity and quality of life is also highlighted. The aim of the thesis was to study the factors influencing the quality of life in physically active elderly people and to look into the correlation between physical activity and quality of life. The elderly people that were interviewed have stressed the importance of many subjective factors positively influencing their quality of life while also stressing that there are several factors that are difficult to sustain as their age progresses. Therefore, professionals as well as people close to the elderly must act dynamically and recognise as well as respond to their ever-changing and complex needs