Core Idea  

What is play, and what does it mean to older people?  Although there has been much research examining play, it nevertheless seems that play is hard to define, especially for people beyond childhood.  In fact, there has been only a little research concerning adult play, particularly among older women.  To shed light on this issue, these investigators address this issue from the perspective of The Red Hat Society (RHS), an international organization of women, the majority of which are older than 50.    

What they say  

The researchers used an on-line survey to collect their data.  They were particularly interested in the responses to the question: “We are interested in any stories you might like to share about meaningful experiences you have had through your Red Hat Society membership.”  In all, 1,693 women responded.    

Three themes about play arose from analyzing the responses.  Play offers: a) a context for fun, laughter, and feeling good, b) the chance to be silly and goofy, and c) positive public response to play.  The women also provided insight to the question: Why do adults play?   

Many women spoke about being a member of the Red Hat Society because it was fun.  Fun was achieved by these women in several ways.  For instance, fun was reached by helping other members have fun, or watching them have it.  Nevertheless, membership provided the women much more than the chance to have fun.  By having someone to whom they could turn to when needed, the women were helped with stress, depression, emotional problems, personal illness, and the loss of loved ones.  Membership also gave the women the opportunity to “laugh” and “giggle.”  For some the ability to laugh extended in the ability to feel good and often it changed outlook on life.  

As for the second theme -- a chance to be silly and “goofy” -- by dressing in red hats and purple outfits the women could behave differently than normal, return to playful behavior, and let their “inner child” come out and play.  For some of the women just as membership went beyond simply having fun, dressing up meant more than just putting on playful attire.  It was a confidence and self-esteem booster.  In regard to the third category, positive public reaction to play, the women’s attire drew attention that was generally favorable from other people.  

What it means 

This article looks at how older women define play.  As previously mentioned, defining play is quite difficult, and there has been much written on the definitional issue.  Although several similarities with previous research were found, it was the differences that have more important implications.  For example, laughing is an important component of play in the RHS, but not even mentioned in some other studies.  It is the case that laughter can lead to more significant outcomes such as feeling good, feeling better, and a changed outlook on life that is critical.  This factor is important, as it suggests the possibility of laughter being evolutionary advantageous for older women.    

Although the article gives further insight into the issue of what is play, and why older adult women play, the authors mention the study’s shortcomings.  One shortcoming is the uniformity of the society’s members.  Another was with the way data were collected, by using an online survey that only members who had access to the Internet could contribute.  The authors also make suggestions for future research.  One such possibility is that a leisure based society, such as the RHS, can be used as an intervention strategy.  Findings from this article – including members feeling younger, feeling better about themselves, etc., -- also have implications for further research on older women’s body image, an area of little research.  Finally the authors suggest more research on how play can have positive cognitive and emotional benefits throughout a woman’s life.  The article emphasizes this point because of its implications for public health.    

Reference  

Yarnal, C., Chick, G., & Kerstetter, P.  (2008).  “I Did Not Have Time to Play Growing Up… So This is My Play Time.  It’s the Best Thing I Have Ever Done for Myself”:  What is Play to Older Women?  Leisure Sciences, 30 (3), 235-252.