Enhancing Older Adults' Well-Being and Quality of Life Through Purposeful Activity: A Systematic Review of Intervention Studies

Background and Objectives Population aging represents a significant challenge for health and social care services. Older adults who engage in activities that offer a sense of purpose have significantly better physical and psychological health outcomes. However, age-related functional limitations and losses of social roles can present barriers to engaging in purposeful activity, especially for those older adults within the "oldest-old" age range (i.e., 80 years and older). This review aimed to determine the nature and effectiveness of purposeful activity interventions in older adults, aged 80 years and older, with respect to well-being and quality-of-life outcomes. Research Design and Methods Three databases were searched from their inception to April 2020. The search yielded 8,916 records, which resulted in eight eligible studies. Results The interventions were divided into two groups: (a) interventions that gave participants a specific functional role, such as volunteer or mentor (n = 5), and (b) interventions that supported participants to develop a new skill (n = 3). The quality of the evidence was variable. The strongest evidence was for interventions that assigned a functional role, which appeared to be somewhat effective in improving well-being outcomes. Discussion and Implications There is preliminary evidence that purposeful activity interventions, particularly those that involved taking on a functional role, can improve well-being and quality-of-life outcomes in older adults aged 80 years and older. These findings have implications for professionals and carers to support older adults to access more purposeful social roles and create opportunities for helping and reciprocation.