Examining the long term effects of leisure education on a sense of independence and psychological well-being among the elderly

In a recently published study, Searle, Mahon, Iso-Ahola, Adam Sdrolias, and van Dyck (1995) reported that an enhanced sense of independence and improved psychological well-being among the elderly resulted from a leisure education intervention. This study reports on a 16-18 week follow-up with 22 of the original 28 subjects to ascertain whether the original results were sustained and if the skills learned through the intervention generalized to other life domains. The results of the follow-up study indicated that the original effects were sustained with the exception of life satisfaction. Importantly, the original effects which showed no impact on a generalized sense of control were not sustained and the experimental group subjects did experience a greater sense of general control over their lives. These results suggest that leisure education has the potential to significantly impact on older adult's sense of independence and that skills learned through leisure education may generalize over time to other life domains.