Scheduled for Poster Session: The Study and Assessment of Activity and Performance Across Disciplines, Friday, April 11, 2008, 8:45 AM - 10:15 AM, Convention Center: Exhibit Hall, Reseach Consortium Poster Sessions


Leisure Programming Knowledge About the Boomer Generation

Lynda Cochran, The College at Brockport, West Seneca, NY, Jennifer M. Beller, Washington State University, Pullman, WA and Sharon Kay Stoll, University of Idaho, Potlatch, ID

Baby boomers, with their unique set of values and characteristics vastly different from earlier generations are changing the face of recreation and leisure. As boomers move towards and begin to retire they appear to demand more than what the current senior center and leisure programs provide. Little is known about how prepared recreation professionals are for the insurgence of the boomer generation on the leisure world relative to retirement recreational planning programs. The purpose of this study was to examine the knowledge of recreation professionals regarding the baby boomer generation in order to validate the need for a different programming philosophy concerning leisure programming. Participants were 111 non-baby boomer and 103 boomer male and female recreation professionals from 6 different US regions. Respondents completed the the 26 question Cochran Baby Boomer Quiz (Cronbach alpha .59-.70), a tool that measures recreation professionals knowledge about the baby boomer generation, their values, and their leisure expectations relative to psychological, educational, physiological, social, and demographic interests. Respondents are given a question whereby they make either a true/false or multiple choice answer. A Mann-Whitney U test was conducted to evaluate the hypothesis that boomer recreation professionals would score higher compared to non-boomer professionals on the Cochran Baby Boomer Quiz. The results of the test were in the expected direction and significant, z = -4.172, p<.001. Boomer recreation professionals had an average rank of 125.66, while non-baby boomer professionals had an average rank of 90.65. While boomers appear to understand their recreation programming needs, a large number of non-boomer recreation professionals may require training and education about this unique population in order to deliver more effective leisure programming. Understanding the leisure needs of the boomer generation should be paramount in recreation professionals' leisure programming plans and higher education recreation curriculum programs. If what is known about boomers' values and leisure objectives is true, recreation professionals will be obligated to develop a large range and scope of adult-focused recreational activities targeted at a program philosophy entailing the psychological, educational, physiological, social, and demographic interests of the boomer cohort. The future of leisure programming presents unique leisure programming opportunities that the recreation professional must not only know but must proactively plan and act upon.
Keyword(s): aging/older adult issues, outdoor ed/recreation, recreation

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