Happiness Strategies for Older Adults: A Qualitative Study

Ensuring happiness in older adults is critical for their mental health. The purpose of the current study was to identify strategies for creating happiness in Iranian older adults. A qualitative study was performed through content analysis and deep semi-structured interviews with 18 adults age 60 and older and one family member. Participants were selected through purposeful sampling, and data were encoded using MAXQDA. Data analyses revealed 187 codes, 23 subcategories, and four main categories: (a) self-centered strategies, (b) inductive strategies, (c) passive strategies, and (d) unselfish strategies. Following the four categories of strategies may lead to happiness in Iranian older adults. Self-centered strategies seemed to achieve better results given that such strategies can be learned and require involvement of older adults themselves. [ Research in Gerontological Nursing, 13 (5), 254–263.]