Favourite Activities of 70-plus Senior Citizens in the České Budějovice Region

Taking the demographic development of our population, the growth of the ratio of senior citizens and the increasing numbers of singles into consideration, the favourite activities of 70-plus citizens become more and more significant. Today´s modern society can offer a wide range of leisure-time activities options during retirement. Thanks to prevention, a healthier diet and sophisticated medication, senior citizens tend to feel not only healthier than their parents used to be, they have also achieved a higher standard of education and thus they expect to enjoy a generally better quality of life. The achievement this goal senior is not pre-conditioned by financial means alone, but predominantly by a change in the fulfilment of life. The objective of my work: The objective of my work consists in the detection of favourite activities of seventy-plus citizens and in the determination of the main determinants, i. e. health condition, natural social environment and stay in institutions for senior citizens. Hypotheses: H1 ? The natural social environment plays a significant role in seventy-plus citizens, H2 ? Institutions for senior citizens have a relevant impact on the available leisure-time activities, H3 ? The health condition is the basic pre-requisite of the range and choice of leisure-time activities in seventy-plus citizens The method of quantitative research was selected for the purposes of confirming or disproving the above hypotheses. The data were collected on the basis of a controlled questionnaire filled in by seventy-plus senior citizens living both in their natural social environment and in institutions. Senior citizens living in the České Budějovice region were interviewed and the respondents were divided into a group living in their natural social environment and a group of those staying in institutions. Both questionnaires consisted in 17 questions. The final number of respondents amounted to 116, 56 of which were living in their natural social environment and 60 in institutions. Data collection: The results of my diploma work suggest that health condition seems to have the most impact on favourite activities. In terms of favourite activities, there is a considerable difference between senior citizens living in their natural social environment and those staying in institutions. The research has confirmed the hypotheses H1, H2 and H3. Conclusions: Modern society should provide a better and more complex standard of awareness of the leisure-time activities options available to the seventy-plus generation. This would improve their general situation and quality of life