Crafting the self: older persons' narratives of occupational identity.
OBJECTIVE
This study aimed to examine how engagement in creative occupations informed six older retired people's occupational identities.


METHODS
Occupational narratives were gathered from in-depth interviews with 6 participants (75 years of age or older) who had extended experience of participation in creative occupations. A process of narrative-type inquiry produced summarized, chronological stories for each participant. Subsequently, a process of paradigmatic-type narrative analysis produced thematic categories related to how a sense of self is associated with creative occupational engagement in later life.


RESULTS
Four themes derived from data analysis included the relevance of relational practices, changing self-awareness, enduring qualities, and reflective processes to the formation of a sense of self.


CONCLUSIONS
This study adds to an understanding of how leisure occupations maintained across the life cycle contribute to building an occupational identity.
School of Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, La Trobe University, Melbourne, 3086, Australia. l.howie@latrobe.edu.au
Linsey
L
Howie
Michelle
M
Coulter
Susan
S
Feldman
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001154:Art; D003405:Creativity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D033262:Narration; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012179:Retirement / Q000523:psychology*; D012933:Social Identification