Experiences and Meanings of Leisure, Active Living, and Recovery Among Culturally Diverse Community-Dwelling Adults with Mental Illness

Abstract

This paper presents the findings from Phase II of our multiphase, community-based research project that examined in-depth insights into the meanings of leisure and active living in the recovery experiences of culturally diverse, community-dwelling adults with mental illness. A series of three face-to-face, semistructured interviews were conducted once each week for 3 weeks with each individual who was purposefully selected from a pool of Phase I study participants. This case-study subsample (n = 23; 14 women and 9 men) included seven White, six Black, six Hispanic American, and four Asian American participants, aged between 23 and 78 years. The findings suggested that actively engaged leisure would act as a mechanism (i.e., “leisure space”) for “movement from” stress and tension and “movement to” something enjoyable and meaningful (e.g., a source of fulfillment, social connections, the reaffirmation of self-worth, hope for the future, altruism).

Keywords:

• Active living
• Coping
• Health promotion
• Leisure
• Recovery