TY - JOUR
T1 - Seasonal mobility and well-being of older people
T2 - The case of ‘Snowbirds’ to Sanya, China
AU - Kou, Lirong
AU - Xu, Honggang
AU - Kwan, Mei Po
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments. This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant numbers 41771145 , "Therapeutic Mobilities and Health Tourists' Spatiotemporal Behaviors, Experiences, and Mechanisms"].
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2018/11
Y1 - 2018/11
N2 - Seasonal retired migrants have increased rapidly in developing countries in recent years. This article adopts a relational perspective to understand the relationships between older people's seasonal mobility and well-being. It shows that the complex spatiotemporal dynamics of seasonal mobility and the non-western sociocultural context influence older people's relations with their places of origin and destination, which in turn shape their well-being experiences during seasonal mobility. Narrative analysis of interview data from five pairs of ‘snowbirds’ to Sanya, China, reveals that seasonal mobility and well-being of older people are evolving processes, interwoven with risks and opportunities. Older people construct routinized daily activities, stable social relations, and peer-supporting and active-aging environments in their place of destination to maintain short-term well-being. However, they encounter difficulties in integrating the corporeal and social dimensions of their bodily experiences and constructing long-term well-being due to their separations from their lifelong relations in their places of origin. But overall, seasonal mobility creates alternative options for aging across multiple places and promotes leisure-oriented aging life.
AB - Seasonal retired migrants have increased rapidly in developing countries in recent years. This article adopts a relational perspective to understand the relationships between older people's seasonal mobility and well-being. It shows that the complex spatiotemporal dynamics of seasonal mobility and the non-western sociocultural context influence older people's relations with their places of origin and destination, which in turn shape their well-being experiences during seasonal mobility. Narrative analysis of interview data from five pairs of ‘snowbirds’ to Sanya, China, reveals that seasonal mobility and well-being of older people are evolving processes, interwoven with risks and opportunities. Older people construct routinized daily activities, stable social relations, and peer-supporting and active-aging environments in their place of destination to maintain short-term well-being. However, they encounter difficulties in integrating the corporeal and social dimensions of their bodily experiences and constructing long-term well-being due to their separations from their lifelong relations in their places of origin. But overall, seasonal mobility creates alternative options for aging across multiple places and promotes leisure-oriented aging life.
KW - Mobility
KW - Relational well-being
KW - Seasonal retirement migration
KW - The Chinese sociocultural context
KW - The relational approach
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U2 - 10.1016/j.healthplace.2018.08.008
DO - 10.1016/j.healthplace.2018.08.008
M3 - Article
C2 - 30269019
AN - SCOPUS:85053826427
VL - 54
SP - 155
EP - 163
JO - Health and Place
JF - Health and Place
SN - 1353-8292
ER -