Social participation as one of the key concepts in the field of aging has always been considered by experts. The National Document for the Elderly also emphasizes the preservation and promotion of physical, mental, spiritual and social health of the elderly and their empowerment through the development of social participation. Despite numerous studies on the benefits of social participation, there is evidence of reduced social participation in old age. The present study aims to investigate the barriers and facilitators in the social participation of the elderly living in the community. An attempt is made to discover unknown aspects of the underlying factors from the perspective of those involved in the process in the context of Iranian society, using a qualitative approach.

This is a qualitative study using Grounded theory. The study population consists of all community-dwelling older people in Iran. Of these, 15 were selected based on the inclusion criteria which were: Age 60 years and above, ability to be present and active in the community, ability to communicate, and willingness to participate in the study. An in-depth semi-structured interview was used to collect information. Prior to the interview, the necessary coordination with the participants regarding the time and place of the meeting was done and informed consent was obtained from them. General questions such as “Describe the activities you perform during the day” were used to start the interview. Next, the questions were based on the elderly’s response, such as “What factors make you have more/less social activity?” The questions continued until the information obtained from the participants did not change the characteristics of existing or created categories. In total, about 39 interviews were conducted with 15 participants and each session was lasted for about 40 minutes. The analysis method of Corbin and Strauss (2015) was used to analyze the data.

Participants had a mean age of 68.2 years ranged from 62 to 76 years; 40% were female and 60% were male; 46.66% had high school diploma and higher degree and 53.33% had less than high school education; About 46% were retired and 54% were employed; 26.66% were living without a spouse and 73.33% with a spouse. The results of the analysis led to the identification of 3 main categories and 11 subcategories, related to facilitators and barriers of social participation in the Iranian elderly. The main categories were: “Participatory Elderly”, “Participatory Family” and “Community Capacity for Social Participation”. Participatory seniors reported social participation as part of their daily activities. Personality traits, religious beliefs, general health, and socio-economic status were the subcategories for this category. The family has a significant role in the development of social participation of the elderly. The method of upbringing in the family can pave the way for raising a participatory person in the future. The approval and support of the elderly by the family help that, despite the special conditions in old age, the person can easily overcome the existing problems due to the motivation s/he receives from the family and people around. 
The two subcategories of “rearing background” and “approval and support from the family” can be effective in the elderly’s social participation. for the third category, 4 subcategories including: Social trust, culture of trust, environmental facilities, and social support were extracted. Interpersonal trust and trust of the elderly in social institutions on the one hand, and delegation of responsibilities to the elderly in society on the other hand, can lead to self-confidence and self-esteem in the elderly. Moreover, the availability of appropriate and safe services for the transportation of the elderly along with environmental amenities play a decisive role in the social participation of the elderly. Social support and informing people about the rights and responsibilities of citizenship and providing appropriate facilities and services for the elderly to access real and virtual social networks can also be effective in developing the social participation of the elderly.

Planning to manage barriers to social participation in all three areas of the elderly, family and Community can facilitate the development of social participation in the elderly in Iran. Findings of the present study, considering that the underlying factors affecting the social participation of the elderly in Iran are explained by the cultural context of the country, can help authorities with the development of social participation in the elderly as one of the main goals in the National Document for the Elderly. Focusing on each of the extracted themes and considering their sub-categories can facilitate the social participation of the elderly. Obviously, the lack of any of the underlying factors mentioned in the study can be a barrier to the development of social participation in the elderly.

This study obtained its ethical approval from the Ethics Committee of University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences (Code: IR.USWR.REC.1398.081)

This study was extracted from the PhD. dissertation of first author at the Department of Nursing, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran. It received funding from the University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences.

Conceptualization: Farahnaz Mohammadi Shahbolaghi, Razieh Amini; Methodology, draft writing: All authors; Date analysis: Farahnaz Mohammadi Shahbolaghi, Razieh Amini; Final editor: Farahnaz Mohammadi Shahbolaghi, Kian Norouzi.

The authors declared no conflict of interest.

The authors would like to thank the University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences for their support and the older people participated in the study for their cooperation.

 

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