Retirement from the occupational perspective: continuity of the life course and new possibilities.

Abstract

Increased life expectancy contributes to retirees being involved in occupations for many years, which requires the creation of new occupational arrangements for their lives. In literature there is a lack of information on how subjects access the occupations that will be part of their new routine. This work aims to understand how the occupations performed in the retirees’ life course participate in occupational reorganization in retirement, from their perspective. This is a qualitative study, theoretically based on the life span development paradigm. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 30 older adults. The results were analyzed by content analysis and presented in four categories: Throughout life; Old meanings, new occupations; Now I can; Other possibilities: the discovery. The results showed that occupations carried on throughout the life course are important references in retirement, highlighting the importance of occupational history. Practicing new occupations was also identified, proving that this time can be a time of new possibilities. This study, being restricted to one country, does not include differences according to gender or social class, and such aspects may be addressed in future studies.