Senior Leisure: Benefits, Activities, and Professional Guidance
Leisure and Well-being in the Elderly
The Ministry of Health projects that 15% of residents will be elderly by 2020. Currently, 7.8% of our population is elderly. While aging is inevitable, many ailments in the elderly are linked to a lack of exercise.
From age 50, and worsening after 70, some losses create a negative perception of aging, including loss of energy, cell loss, degenerative diseases, hearing or visual impairment, weakened bones, tendons, and ligaments, reduced reaction time, irritability, clinging to conservatism, and denial of aging.
However, aging should not be seen solely as a period of decline. Physical activity can postpone and mitigate these effects. Properly guided physical education offers benefits such as reducing negative effects, improving socialization, developing motor skills for greater autonomy, and preserving health and well-being.
Quality of life is enhanced through enjoyable and creative activities that contribute to overall development. Seniors are mature individuals who understand the importance of happiness. They don’t want to leave a gym or game with an aching body, although it’s possible to program them for exercise overload. More and more healthy seniors are eager for new experiences.
Other leisure activities also contribute to the quality of life for seniors. Trips facilitate the formation of friendships, fulfill postponed desires, and promote autonomy and cognition. Club meetings are important for interpersonal and individual development. It’s not surprising that exercise, hiking, and dancing are common among these groups.
Some retirees, despite having the physical and financial means, do not embrace leisure, often due to their work-centric identity. This is because people are often valued for their work, especially outdoor work. Some old prejudices also limit their right to sexuality and pleasure. We must question whether we need to create age categories that people must fit into. Do the elderly need institutional protection to enjoy pleasure? These questions are worth considering.
Training for Leisure Professionals
Characteristics and Professional Profile
Leisure professionals should continuously study, cultivate personal relationships, and seek to improve their activities and work environment. Vocational training is necessary to stimulate critical thinking about history, culture, environment, society, and the arts. Along with general education, disciplinary knowledge and specific courses should encourage academic re-creation, not just copying programs, projects, methodologies, and activities.
Communication skills are essential for explaining viewpoints. Professionals should avoid slang, insecurity, and inappropriate language. A good animator should not cry, as it shows a loss of control. They must learn to lead, valuing teamwork. The leader’s role is to facilitate group decision-making.
Leisure professionals should be appropriate, avoiding overly dynamic approaches that force people to have fun. It’s important to value all individuals, avoiding favoritism. Those who need training the most should not be dismissed.
Reflection on daily experiences, combined with formal knowledge, shapes the leisure professional. Discipline and creativity are crucial for adapting to required qualities and manifesting them uniquely.
Important Attitudes for Vocational Training in Leisure:
- Develop a strong culture with general knowledge, even when working in a specific area (dance, music, travel, events, festivals, crafts).
- Participate in group studies and discussions on virtual recreation.
- Subscribe to specialized scientific magazines, read books and newspapers.
- Attend academic events that bring together experts in the field.
- Recognize that training is an ongoing process: undergraduate, postgraduate courses, conferences, readings, information exchange, and learning from mistakes and successes.
Professional Practice
Leisure professionals are experts with knowledge of the area, acting in specific jurisdictions or coordinating all fields. Specific jurisdictions include areas like travel, leisure, exercise, games, meetings, or the arts. Common services provided by leisure professionals include:
- Animating groups directly or through media.
- Evaluating the services of other professionals.
- Coordinating with varied professional teams.
- Managing clubs, cultural centers, and industries in public agencies and hotels.
- Researching leisure activities in society or limited groups.
- Planning equipment, programs, and leisure activities.
- Promoting events that meet different interests.
- Leading leisure activities.
- Providing consulting services.
- Training human resources in the area.