Understanding joy amongst older people: a scoping review

Abstract

To date there has been little focus on the concept of joy amongst older people in the literature. The objective of this scoping review was to understand the extent and type of evidence about joy and older people. Searches were run in ten databases in January 2022 (re-run January 2023). Eligible studies included people aged 65 and over living in their usual place of residence and described the experience or evaluation of joy. Screening was conducted independently by two reviewers and data were extracted by one reviewer and checked by a second. We included 11 papers reporting both qualitative (n=5) and quantitative (n=6) studies involving 1,487 participants with a mean age of 81.6 years. Seven of the studies were based in care or nursing homes with four in community settings. Five studies reported the experience of joy, three reported on the assessment of joy, and three examined the association between joy and other factors. Social connections and participation in activities that are meaningful to the individual are important sources of joy. Joy amongst older people has received little attention in the literature despite it being highlighted as being important to older people themselves in relation to their health and wellbeing.