Baby boomers’ development of resources and strategies to engage as later life university students

ABSTRACT

To determine the resources baby boomers use or develop to strategise successful engagement as later life university students, informal semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 Australian baby boomers. The phenomenological data was analysed, themes identified and aligned with the volition phase stages of the adapted Health Action Process Approach model. Interviewees displayed varying levels of self-efficacy and coping strategies. Having a sense of purpose and involvement in the social environment of a university appears to create positive functioning that can contribute to healthy ageing and well-being. The findings from this study could assist university administrators and policy makers to develop strategies to attract and support this niche sector of university students.

KEYWORDS:

• Baby boomers
• university education
• healthy ageing
• sense of purpose

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Margaret Hardy

Margaret Hardy holds a Bachelor of Commerce, a Graduate Certificate Business Research and is currently a PhD candidate at the University of the Sunshine Coast.

Florin Oprescu

Florin Oprescu, Senior Lecturer in Public Health, Health Promotion, University of the Sunshine Coast.  Formal qualifications include medicine (MD), public health (MPH, PhD), business management (MBA).  Associate Professor Oprescu works on initiatives including health promotion education, health communication, injury prevention, and translation of scientific findings into practical and accessible public health content, especially for vulnerable populations and limited resource settings.

Prudence Millear

Prudence Millear, Lecturer in Psychology, University of the Sunshine Coast.  Specialist areas of knowledge include psychology, physiological psychology, developmental psychology, adult development and ageing, optimism, occupational health psychology, well-being and work engagement, sea change and tree change, working parents and family time, and statistics and research design.

Mathew Summers

Mathew Summers, University of the Sunshine Coast, is a member of the Sunshine Coast Mind and Neuroscience – Thompson Institute (SCMN-TI), is an AHPRA registered and endorsed Clinical Neuropsychologist and member of the APS College of Clinical Neuropsychologists, conducts research into neuropsychological markers of risk for developing Alzheimer’s dementia in adults with mild cognitive impairment as well as the potential for late life education to prevent the onset of dementia or reduce the incidence of age-related cognitive decline.