University of Tasmania
Browse

File(s) under permanent embargo

Eating and ageing in rural Australia: applying temporal perspectives from phenomenology to uncover meanings in older adults’ experiences

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-18, 16:01 authored by King, AC, Orpin, P, Jessica WoodroffeJessica Woodroffe, Boyer, K
Nutritious and enjoyable eating experiences are important for the health and wellbeing of older adults. Social gerontology has usefully engaged with the role of time in older adults’ eating lives, considering how routines and other temporal patterns shape experiences of food, meals and eating. Building on this foundation, the paper details one set of findings from qualitative doctoral research into older adults’ experiences of food, meals and eating. Informed by phenomenological ethnography, it engages with one of four dimensions of the human lifeworld – the temporal dimension. The research involved repeated in-depth interviews, walking interviews and observation with 21 participants aged 72–90 years, living in rural Tasmania, Australia. The temporal elements of older adults’ experiences are detailed in terms of the past, present and future. The findings show that older adults have vivid memories of eating in uncertain and austere times, and these experiences have informed their food values and behaviours into old age. In the present, older adults employ several strategies for living and eating well. Simultaneously, they are oriented towards their uncertain eating futures. These findings reveal the implicit meanings in older adults’ temporal experiences of food, meals and eating, highlighting the importance of understanding older adults’ lifeworlds, and their orientation towards the future, for developing effective responses to concerns about food and eating in this age group.

History

Publication title

Ageing and Society

Volume

37

Issue

4

Pagination

753-776

ISSN

0144-686X

Department/School

School of Health Sciences

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Place of publication

United Kingdom

Rights statement

© Cambridge University Press 2015

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Behaviour and health

Usage metrics

    University Of Tasmania

    Categories

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC