Introduction
By 2401, the aging phenomenon of Iran’s population will become more serious [2] and it is necessary to think about the necessary measures for the well-being of aged people and solve the challenges [3]. Providing education according to their needs is one of the strategies to improve their living standards and empower them. Considering that all decisions regarding the goals and content of educational programs are dependent on the results of needs assessment [17], having knowledge of the special needs of older adults precedes any educational intervention. Several studies have been conducted to identify the educational needs of the elderly in the world [22-26], while the studies conducted in Iran are limited to the educational needs of the elderly in a specific area [27-29]. So far, no coherent study has been conducted to identify the educational needs of Iranian older people; therefore, the main purpose of this study is to identify the educational needs of elderly adults in Iran and prioritize them.

Methods
In the first step, the educational needs of the elderly were surveyed through semi-structured interviews [30] with participants. The study population consists of all Iranian people over 60 years old, people who are in constant contact with the elderly, and experts in fields related to education and geriatrics. Sampling was also done with a purposive method until reaching theoretical saturation in the answers. The final samples included 45 people, 14 experts, 21 older adults (11 women and 10 men), and 10 caregivers of older people. The average length of the interviews was 48 minutes.
The transcriptions were analyzed using a qualitative content analysis method, according to Esterberg [31] in five steps: Preparing data, exploring data, open coding, combining codes into themes, and centralized coding. For the validation of themes, the opinions of a panel of experts were used [30]. Then the next step, which was the prioritization of identified needs, was performed using the Delphi method. The themes identified in the first round were delivered to the participants and they were asked to use the numbers 1 to 13 for their prioritization. In the second round of Delphi, the prioritized needs were sent to the participants for review and feedback. The scoring and analysis process was also reviewed by the research team and a statistician.

Results
First, 52 open codes were prepared. After categorizing them, 13 themes were extracted as follows:
● Spirituality: This theme refers to the growing need for spiritual growth in old age. Most of the participants consider this period as the foundation for the spiritual growth of the elderly.
● Persian literature: Most of the elderly were interested in reading books and poems in Persian literature;
● Art activities: The elderly had various needs, some of which referred to their unfulfilled wishes in areas such as painting and music;
● Ability to use new technologies: With the rapid advance of technology, if the elderly do not know about advanced tools such as smart cell phones and the internet and how to use them, they will be alienated from the modern life;
● Mind games: A number of seniors were very interested in playing mind games;
● Health-promoting skills: Considering that physical health declines with aging, the most common need raised by all three groups of participants was the need to learn health-promoting skills;
● Sense of satisfaction: Most of the elderly were not satisfied with their lives and were unaware of the ways to achieve satisfaction;
● General knowledge: This theme shows the elderly were interested in knowing about daily news and information;
● Self-learning: This theme refers to the elderly’s need to learn new things and a desire to expand their learning skills.
● Self-Knowledge: This category refers to the importance of awareness and knowledge about old age and conveying a sense of value and usefulness based on this knowledge
● Management of negative feelings and emotions: As the age increases, the tolerance of the elderly decreases in coping with the feelings and emotions that were more controllable for them before.
● Interpersonal communication skills: Old age is associated with a decrease in the ability to establish healthy interpersonal relationships with others.
● The importance of the environment and its protection methods: This theme indicates the importance of paying attention to the environment where the elderly live.
The response rate in the first Delphi round after 4 follow-ups was 61%. The first six priorities were: Health-promoting skills, management of negative feelings and emotions, self-knowledge, sense of satisfaction, interpersonal communication skills, and self-learning. In the second round of Delphi, six prioritized needs were sent to the participants for review and feedback. They all agreed with them. The response rate was 96%.

Conclusion
The first educational priority of Iranian elderly was related to health-promoting skills, which is in line with the findings of other studies [22, 24, 26]. Based on biological theories, although physical health declines with age, its speed can be controlled in various ways, including awareness of self-care methods. The management of negative feelings and emotions was the second priority, consistent with the findings of a study [24]. Aging leads to changes in parts of the brain that control abilities such as responding to certain emotions [34]. The inability to show the appropriate reaction when experiencing bad feelings and emotions has a negative effect on mental health, which can be expressed appropriately by acquiring the necessary skills. Self-knowledge was the third priority which aims to achieve a realistic image of oneself and can increase self-esteem and life satisfaction [36].

Ethical Considerations
Compliance with ethical guidelines
The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Sports Science Research Center (Code: IR.SSRC.REC.1400.110).

Funding
This research did not receive any grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or non-profit sectors.

Authors' contributions
All authors equally contribute to preparing all parts of the research.

Conflicts of interest
The authors declared no conflict of interest.

Acknowledgements
The authors would like to express their gratitude to the Honorable Research Vice-Chancellor of Tarbiat Modares University for providing the context for conducting this study, Masoud Tabib Azar and Behnam Talebi for reviewing the text of the article and providing structural comments.


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