Upplevd meningsfullhet och välbefinnande hos ensamboende pensionärer över 65 år genom aktiviteter med sin hund - en kvalitativ intervjustudie

Sammanfattning: Background: Transition from work to retirement can affect well-being through changed activities and roles. Meaningful activities are important to maintain health. Activities could be defined by doing, being, becoming and belonging, and meaning and well-being are related to doing activities with their dog. Aim: Investigate how activities with one's own dog affect the subjective experience of meaning and well-being in seniors who are 65 years of age or older living alone. Method: Qualitative cross-sectional study with inductive approach and manifest content analysis of semistructured interviews. Respondents were recruited via Facebook, resulting in nine interviews. Interviews were transcribed and categories emerged in the analysis based on the manifest content. Result: Activities with their dog gave life meaning through changed activity-patterns, role with responsibility, structure and increased mental and physical well-being. Increased social contact and various activities with the dog affected the perceived meaningfulness and well-being. Conclusion: Activities with the dog added meaning and belonging. New roles through becoming and doing where shaped around the dog's needs, the relationship contributed to being and well-being. Results are significant for occupational therapy and occupational science through deeper understanding of the dog's importance for the owner's everyday life. The result provides incentives for further research.