Abstract
Under the worldwide aging trend, finding ways to successful aging for the older adults has been a focus of the gerontology studies in the past two decades. Most of the existing studies have used the quantitative method to examine the consequences of the participants for physical activities or leisure. Thus, there is a need to use the qualitative method to explore the deep leisure experiences among the older adults. Besides, the social network analysis has been an important technique for exploring the relationship and interaction between the social actors. In this study, the social network analysis conception was applied to explore the older adults' leisure interaction. In-depth interviews and field observations were conducted with 27 older adults aged 65 years or more in the Hsinchu area. The interview gathered information regarding the respondents on three aspects: first, the influence of the general social network members on leisure participation; second, the extension to daily life based on the interactions within the recreation sports social network, and third, the demographic background. The findings of this studies were three-fold. First, members of the older adults' general social network also provided many kinds of assistance for leisure participants. Second, some members of the older adults' general social network coincided with those of the recreational sport social network. Third, except for the interactions in leisure activities, highly and multiple interactions in other occasions were reported by these respondents.