Everyday activities play an essential role for older adults’ quality of life and successful ageing. Scholarly models of Successful Ageing typically comprise the following components: physical health as measured by low risk of disease or disability; good mental and physical function; and continued engagement with life, including relations with others and productive activity (Rowe & Khan 2002). These overlap with what senior citizens see as detrimental to their quality of life, but in their case the emphasis is placed on different factors. According to the study based on the British Quality of Life Survey (Gabriel & Bowling 2004), what matters most to older adults are: social relations, living in a safe and pleasant home and neighbourhood with good local facilities, access to quality transportation, solo hobbies and leisure activities, and social and community activities. In other word, it is the quality of everyday experiences that senior citizens see as detrimental to successful ageing.

This project uses advanced statistical methods to analyse objective and subjective accounts of everyday experiences of adults aged 65+ and link them with daily structures of time-use, quality of life, and psychosocial wellbeing (both general and ‘in situ’ – linked with a particular activity and reported while being engaged in this activity). It uses Experience Sampling Method and end-of-the-day accounts as sources of detailed behavioural data. The project involves primary data collection with the fieldwork being conducted in two countries: Austria and Poland, using both online apps and offline questionnaires. The data collection phase will end in April 2020 and is expected to provide information on nearly 3000 activities.