Active Interest Mentorship for Soon-to-Retire People: A Self-Sustaining Retirement Preparation Program

Abstract

Retirement is a major life transition that often leads to maladjustments and mental health hazards. In this study, we developed an innovative retirement preparation program, the Active Interest Mentorship Scheme (AIMS), which utilized active interest development as a positive entry point through which to engage soon-to-retire people. Each retiree received a 1-year mentorship 6 months before retirement. Adopting a quasi-experimental design, the study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of the AIMS in protecting retirees’ well-being. The well-being status of 161 retirees was assessed at 4-month intervals. Measures included self-esteem, life satisfaction, positive affect, depression, anxiety, and somatic symptoms. Serial trend analysis revealed a general improvement in well-being at 4 months after mentorship, followed by a mark reversion in some variables at 2 months after retirement. Upon completion of the program, participants generally returned to a level of well-being that was comparable with or better than preretirement levels. The first 2 months after retirement appeared to be the most distressing. The findings support the efficacy, as well as feasibility of the innovative retirement preparation program.

Keywords

retirement transition adjustment intervention

Introduction

Retirement is one of the most important milestones in the later life of working adults (H. Wang, Koo, & O’Hare, 2016). According to the Information Services Department of Hong Kong (2014), people aged 65 or above constituted 13% of the Hong Kong population in 2014. It is projected that this number will increase to 19% by 2020 and 30% by 2041. The modal age of retirement is between 50 and 65, and there are about 60,000 working adults entering retirement every year in Hong Kong. As the population ages, life after retirement has attracted growing public attention (H. Wang et al., 2016).

Retirement is commonly defined as an individual’s exit from the workforce, as well as the withdrawal from job positions psychologically and behaviorally (Shultz & Wang, 2011; M. Wang & Shi, 2014). Retirement is a significant life transition that involves role changes and redefinition, lifestyles changes, relationship changes, and activity shifts (Kim & Moen, 2002; Vo et al., 2014). It may lead to both positive and negative mental health outcomes (Byles et al., 2013; Clarke, Marshall, House, & Lantz, 2011; Dow & Meyer, 2010; Hardy, 2002; van Solinge & Henkens, 2008).

Previous studies have revealed the positive impacts of voluntariness of the retirement (Reitzes & Mutran, 2004; van Solinge & Henkens, 2007, 2008) and retirement planning (Petkoska & Earl, 2009; Reitzes & Mutran, 2004; M. Wang, 2007) on retirees’ psychological well-being. People who are actively engaged in leisure or other non-work-related activities showed better mental health status (Dorfman & Douglas, 2005; S. Kim & Feldman, 2000; Quick & Moen, 1998). Ideally, if there is an effective universal retirement preparation program in place, the majority retirees can successfully navigate the major transition in life, and proceed to a fruitful third age. As tens of thousands of people retire every year, such a program must not only be effective but also acceptable, affordable, and sustainable over time. In response to this challenge, we developed an innovative retirement preparation program called the Active Interest Mentorship Scheme (AIMS).

Mentoring is a crucial component in this program. The term mentor often refers to the supporting role model in a profession that is highly admired and appreciated by mentees (Freedman, 2009). In the present research, mentor is considered as an individual who is willing to befriend and share their retirement experiences with soon-to-retire people (Freedman, 2009). The relationship between mentors and mentees is more reciprocal, rather than providing one-way guidance to mentees and considering them as in vulnerable situations (Lindbo & Shultz, 1998).

Some studies have explored the role of mentoring in the workforce. For examples Wilson (2010) examined the potentials of active mentoring in supporting the transition into retirement for older people with a disability. The program they developed later demonstrated that mentorship was helpful to these retirees in developing an adaptive lifestyle after retirement (Stancliffe, Bigby, Balandin, Wilson, & Craig, 2015). Koc-Menard (2009) highlighted the benefits for corporates to make use of the mentors’ knowledge and experience to train successors, and systematically develop its capacity in supporting retirees. Some studies focused on the effectiveness of senior mentors who are retired in coaching the younger generations in their professional development (Bates, Cohan, Bragg, & Bedinghaus, 2006; Eleazer, Stewart, Wieland, Anderson, & Simpson, 2009; Eleazer, Wieland, Roberts, Richeson, & Thornhill, 2006; Hoffman, Gray, Hosokawa, & Zweig, 2006; Wieland & Eleazer, 2006). Up till now, mentoring specifically for retirement preparation is yet to be rigorously evaluated. AIMS is an attempt to systematically use mentors in retirement preparation. To enhance its acceptability, AIMS strategically uses active interest development to engage the soon-to-retire people. This article deliberates the rationales in conceiving AIMS and reports the experiences and outcomes in implementing the program.

Literature Review

Active Interest

Previous studies have explored the relationship between retirement transition and retiree’s social roles and network (Heaven et al., 2013; Hershey & Henkens, 2014; Houlfort et al., 2015). Among the protective factors, the strongest are, before retirement, having satisfying familial relationships and active passionate interests (Kojala & Moen, 2016). From a practical point of view, a focus on marital or familial relationships is not feasible. With an embedded negative connotation of labeling retirees having relationship problems, the program would be acceptable to few potential participants. Moreover, intervening in relationship problems is overly intensive for a program intending to act as a universal retirement preparation service.

Active interest development before retirement appears to be a more appealing entry point for engaging soon-to-retire people. Active interest differs from passive interest in the sense that the people involved are actors, rather than watchers (Stebbins, 2013). Examples of active and passive interests include playing versus watching soccer, making movies versus going to the cinema, and writing stories versus reading novels. All different types of active interests share a common feature, in that they are more engaging and demanding than passive interests, but are also intrinsically more satisfying and rewarding (Nathan, Wood, & Giles-Corti, 2013). Whereas passive interests and sedentary lifestyle have been explored by various researchers (Touvier et al., 2010), active interests seem to have received less attention. To enhance its appeal to the soon-to-retire people, the AIMS program strategically focuses on supporting the retirees to develop active interest. However, it is important to emphasize that the program does not devaluate passive interest. Indeed, it is common and rewarding for individuals to pursue both active and passive interests in parallel.

Active interests have also been shown to have strong protective value to the mental health of people going through retirement (Earl, Gerrans, & Halim, 2015; Matz-Costa, Besen, Boone James, & Pitt-Catsouphes, 2014). The salubrious effect of active interests can be understood from the perspectives of role theory, continuity theory, and activity theory (M. Wang, 2007). Role theory, which focuses on role exit and transition (M. Wang, Henkens, & van Solinge, 2011), is one of the core theoretical perspectives that explains the challenges of retirement and the adjustment process (Riley & Riley, 1994). In this theory, retirement is seen as an exit from a working role and a transition to a nonworking role. Gainful employment often plays a fundamental role that is essential to an individual’s self-concept, esteem, and social identity (J. Kim & Moen, 2002). In other words, losing a working role can negatively affect one’s self-concept, esteem, and social identity (Riley & Riley, 1994). If a retiree has a passionate active interest and feels proud of being devoted to it, that retiree may find a powerful, positive substitute to a working role.

Continuity theory emphasizes the consistency of individuals’ roles and life patterns after retirement (Atchley, 1999). According to Atchley (1999) and M. Wang (2007), if retirees can maintain reasonable levels of continuity in self-identity and life patterns, they will likely also be able to maintain their overall well-being (Duberley, Carmichael, & Szmigin, 2013). Having a passionate active interest before retirement and becoming even more devoted to that interest after retirement provides a continued platform for maintaining consistent social roles and life patterns.

Activity theory underscores the continuous development of retirees (Armstrong-Stassen, 2007; Kraimer, Seibert, Wayne, Liden, & Bravo, 2011). It advocates that people should remain active in various areas and activities as far as possible in old age (Bal, De Jong, Jansen, & Bakker, 2011; Charles & Carstensen, 2010). Maintaining activity leads to better life satisfaction and physical health (Rowe & Kahn, 1997). While bridge employment after retirement helps individuals to retain high levels of activity, it is not an option for many retirees. Compared with bridge employment, active interests are a more long-term choice.

Mentoring

Mentoring is another important component in the AIMS program. The term mentoring can be traced back to the Greek mythology in Homer’s Odyssey (Freedman, 2009). In Odyssey, Mentor was the teacher of Telemachus who is the son of Odysseus, and Mentor instructed Telemachus when Odysseus was not at home (Lindbo & Shultz, 1998). Nowadays, in daily language, mentor refers to “a confidant, an adviser, a teacher, a guide, a coach, and a role model” (Lindbo & Shultz, 1998, p. 54). Major functions of the mentor–mentee relationship include teaching, personal support, and organizational intervention (Zey, 1991). Most researchers emphasize the role of mentoring in passing on experience and knowledge from experts to new-entries, and the benefits to corporates adopting a mentoring system (Freedman, 2009; Koc-Menard, 2009; Lindbo & Shultz, 1998).

There has been a trend in medical schools to incorporate mentoring in supporting the professional development of trainees and junior practitioners (Eleazer et al., 2009; Heflin, 2006; Hoffman et al., 2006; Stewart & Alford, 2006; Thornhill, Richeson, & Roberts, 2002). Previous studies have revealed the positive impacts of mentoring in facilitating students getting deeper insights of the subject matters, and developing holistic understanding of patients.

Application of mentoring specifically in retirement application is yet be rigorously implemented and evaluated. In light of the theoretical merits, AIMS systematically incorporates mentoring, together with active interest development, into a retirement preparation program. Mentoring is an interactive process between the mentor and mentee. In sharing their experience with their mentees, the mentors may also benefit, for example, feeling being valued and becoming more socially active. Whereas for the mentees, they have someone there to listen to them, share their feelings, discuss their retirement planning, introduce retirement experience, and offer emotional support. The process creates an atmosphere facilitating mutual understanding and support.

Design and Method

Building Up the Mentor Pool

Grounded on consistent research findings on the strong protective value of active interests in retirement, the AIMS adopted the theme of developing active interests before retirement for a more satisfying retirement. Solely relying on professionals’ input to prompt and sustain behavioral changes among the retirees is impractical and overly expensive (Sosik & Godshalk, 2000). Therefore, the AIMS incorporated a mentoring component. Retired people who are willing to share their own experiences and knowledge of retirement were trained to become mentors. While active interest development was a central theme, the mentor–mentee relationship also provided a natural platform for the soon-to-retire people to share their experiences and seek advice during the retirement transition. Moreover, upon completion of the mentorship service, successful retirees could be recruited and trained to become new mentors. The mentor pool will have natural organic growth, thereby greatly enhancing the affordability and sustainability of the AIMS.

AIMS

Prior to the present study, a pilot trial with 10 retirees and 10 mentors was conducted. A key objective was to develop the necessary program materials, which included a four-session training workshop for mentors, a guidebook for mentees, and a resource booklet of active interests. Our team developed an eight-dimension attributional model of active interests for assisting soon-to-retire people in identifying active interests that align with their personal orientations. The eight dimensions are (a) physical challenge, (b) stillness, (c) intellectual challenge, (d) cooperative task, (e) solo task, (f) philanthropic endeavor, (g) spiritual pursuit, and (h) creativity and artistic appreciation. An activity can have multiple attributes. For example, cycling can be physical, cooperative, and/or independent; yoga can fulfill the attributes regarding physical, stillness, being cooperative, and/or independent, and spiritual; and astronomy can fulfill the attributes regarding stillness, being intellectual, and being cooperative and/or independent. We developed a simple computer program to filter out active interests in accordance with the specified attributes.

A matching process for pairing up mentors and mentees was developed and refined in the pilot study. Each trained mentor was matched with one to two mentees, primarily based on their indicated gender preference and geographic distance. Mentor–mentee matching evenings were conducted regularly to welcome soon-to-retire people who were new to the program, and to facilitate their first meeting with their respective mentors.

The project officer, who is a registered social worker, organized monthly group supervisions for mentors. In between monthly supervisions, the project officer was available and accessible for mentors for consultation on issues encountered in the course interaction with their mentees. The mentor–mentee relationship nominally lasted for 1 year, from half a year before the retirement to half a year after the retirement of the mentee. Mentors and mentees had full discretion in deciding whether or not they wanted to continue their friendships after the nominal 1-year mentorship period.

After the pilot study, a quasi-experimental design was adopted. In line with the 1-year mentorship design of the AIMS, four waves (T1, T2, T3, and T4) of the survey were conducted with each mentee at 4-month intervals. T1 was conducted about 6 months before retirement, and T4 was conducted 6 months after retirement. The actual retirement took place between T2 and T3. The four-wave survey design aimed to track changes in the well-being of mentees in the retirement transition. Measures included both positive and negative measures, namely, self-esteem, life satisfaction, positive affect, depression, anxiety, and multiple somatic symptoms. We hypothesized that, upon completion of 1 year of mentorship, retirees’ well-being would be preserved.

Ethical Approval

The ethical approval of the study was granted by the Human Research Ethics Committee for Non-Clinical Faculties, The University of Hong Kong. The best research practice was observed, in particular in regard to respecting the rights of the mentees. Informed written consent was obtained from all participants prior to intervention and data collection.

Participants

Participants were recruited with the collaboration of an employee assistance program nongovernmental organization (NGO) in Hong Kong. Invitation letters were sent to the human resource departments of the corporate clients of the NGO. The human resource departments then helped convey the invitation to staff due to retire within 1 year. Subsequently, 200 soon-to-retire people gave informed consent and participated in the study. Except the AIMS program, these soon-to-retire participants did not join other retirement and lifestyle advice programs. Among them, 161 mentees completed the 1-year mentorship and four waves of survey. The completion rate of mentees was thus 80.5%. The analysis sample included 92 men and 69 women. Of these, 18.6% were ages 50 to 54, 32.3% were ages 55 to 59, and the other 49.1% were ages 60 to 65. Regarding educational level, the majority of mentees had more than 10 years of education, with 3.1% having attained education to a primary school level, 39.8% to a secondary school level, 42.9% to a college or university level, and 14.2% to a postgraduate level. Participants’ years of tenure with their last employer were 15.5% under 10 years, 50.9% between 10 and 20 years, and 33.5% more than 20 years. Their positions upon retirement were 31.1% in support/frontline grades, 28.0% in junior supervisory grades, 19.3% in middle/upper managerial grades, and 21.7% in professional grades.

In Hong Kong, retirement age depends very much on the occupation. The normal retirement age is 60 for civil servants, and 55 to 57 for disciplined service officers (Administration of the Civil Service, 2016). In the private sector, the retirement age is more flexible. The modal range of Hong Kong citizens’ retirement age is between 50 and 65, which is consistent with the age profile of the participants of the present study.

Procedures

As mentioned above, the soon-to-retire people received information of the AIMS via the human resource department of their respective companies. Those interested in learning more indicated their initial interest in the AIMS by returning a simple reply slip to us. Subsequently, they had an individual meeting with our project officer. Written informed consent was obtained from all mentees prior to intervention and data collection. New mentees were arranged to attend the nearest scheduled mentor–mentee matching evening, during which they would meet their mentors. The nominal period of mentorship was 1 year, from about 6 months before retirement to about 6 months after retirement. The mentees had access to the project officer, who was a registered social worker, whenever they felt the need for advice, including retirement planning and psychosocial issues such as family relationship problems. Measures on the well-being status of every mentee were taken at four time points, as described earlier. Upon completion of the 1-year mentorship, we invited the ex-mentees to join the AIMS as mentors. Interested ex-mentees would go through our mentor training workshop.

Measures

Previous studies suggest that continued activities may enhance the well-being of retirees, for examples, in life satisfaction (Antonucci, 2001; Heckhausen & Schulz, 1995; Lyubomirsky, Sheldon, & Schkade, 2005; Tkach & Lyubomirsky, 2006), and emotional, cognitive, and social competence (Pushkar, Arbuckle, Conway, Chaikelson, & Maag, 1997). In light of these findings, some relevant positive measures, such as self-esteem, life satisfaction, and positive affect were included in the study. Because previous studies have also revealed that people during retirement transition are at risk of mental health problems. Some relevant negative measures, such as anxiety, depression, and multiple somatic complaints were included. The combination of positive and negative measures can help reduce response bias and improve research validity (Sonderen, Sanderman, & Coyne, 2013). The measures included in the study are depicted below.

The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1965) is a 10-item scale assessing levels of self-esteem. The items on the scale are answered on a 4-point Likert-type scale, from 1 (strongly agree) to 4 (strongly disagree). Higher scores indicate a greater level of self-esteem, with the nominal range falling between 15 and 25. Internal consistency for the total scores was .92, and test–retest reliability over a period of 2 weeks was between .85 and .88.

The Satisfaction With Life Scale (Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1985) is a five-item scale assessing global cognitive judgments of life satisfaction. This scale showed good sensitivity in detecting changes in life satisfaction level throughout the course of clinical intervention (Pavot & Diener, 1993). Responses are given on a 7-point Likert-type scale, from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). The nominal range fell between 21 and 30.

The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (Snaith, 2003) is a 14-item scale assessing anxiety and depressive states. The scale was originally designed for physicians in the setting of medical practices, for screening purposes. Studies have shown that the scale is also valid in community and primary health care settings as a screening instrument for depression and anxiety levels. The normal scores range was between 0 and 7 for both the depression and anxiety subscales.

The 14-Item Physical Distress Scale (Ng, Yau, Chan, Chan, & Ho, 2005) is a measure of subjective appraisal of multiple somatic complaints. Internal consistency of the total scores was .87. Responses are given on an 11-point scale with higher scores representing greater concerns.

The Positive Affect Scale (Ng et al., 2005) is a nine-item scale measuring the levels of positive affect that the participants have experienced over the past week. Internal consistency of the total scores was .88. The items include feelings of happiness, ease, and confidence.

The reliability of these measures was reexamined in this study by Cronbach’s alpha (α). The results suggested good internal consistency, with alpha values between .91 and .96.

Results

Data analyses were performed with SPSS v. 22 (International Business Machines Corporation, 2013). The results of various well-being measures from T1 to T4 are summarized in Table 1. To evaluate the changes in these measures from T2, T3, and T4 over T1, paired sample t tests were performed (Table 2).

Table 1.

Means and Standard Deviations of Well-Being Measures of the 161 Participants in the Active Interest Mentorship Program.

Variables	T1		T2		T3		T4
Variables	M	SD	M	SD	M	SD	M	SD
Self-esteem	21.0	3.0	22.1	3.3	22.0	3.4	21.8	3.1
Life satisfaction	26.5	4.9	26.8	4.4	22.3	4.1	27.1	4.8
Depression	3.4	2.5	3.3	2.6	3.8	2.8	3.2	2.8
Anxiety	3.9	3.2	3.2	2.8	3.8	2.9	3.1	2.9
Physical distress	17.6	18.3	12.5	10.5	17.3	17.6	13.5	13.5
Positive affect	59.3	10.8	64.7	10.4	64.5	11.3	66.4	9.0

Table 2.

Paired Sample t Test of Changes From the Baseline of the 161 Participants in the Active Interest Mentorship Program.

Variables	Changes			p value (paired with T1)
Variables	T2-T1	T3-T1	T4-T1	T2	T3	T4
Self-esteem	1.1	1.0	0.8	.04*	.05*	.08
Life satisfaction	0.3	−4.2	0.6	.62	.00**	.32
Depression	−0.1	0.4	−0.2	.73	.38	.55
Anxiety	−0.7	−0.1	−0.8	.10	.75	.08
Physical distress	−5.1	−0.3	−4.1	.04*	.52	.05*
Positive affect	5.4	5.2	7.1	.01**	.02*	.00**

p ≤ .05. **p ≤ .01.

To further explore the patterns of changes in various well-being measures, the percentages of score changes at T2, T3, and T4 over T1 were computed and named C1, C2, and C3, as shown in Figure 1. At T2, 4 months after mentorship, there was a general improvement in well-being among the mentees, as reflected by an overall decreasing pattern in negative measures and an increase in positive measures. At T3, about 2 months after retirement, there seemed to be a reversion in the overall well-being of the mentees. At T4, upon completion of the 1-year mentorship, mentees appeared to return to well-being comparable with or better than preretirement levels.

Figure 1.

Variables’ percentage of changes at T2, T3, and T4 over T1.

At T2, 4 months after the mentorship program, there was a general improvement in well-being among the mentees. In particular, there were significant increases in self-esteem and positive affect, and a decrease in multiple somatic complaints. Previous studies have revealed that proactive preretirement planning offers benefits to the psychological functions of the soon-to-retire people (Taylor & Doverspike, 2003; Yeung, 2013). The senior mentors of the AIMS engaged the mentees and enabled them to take the necessary actions and make behavioral changes, in particular, in developing a passionate active interest before retirement. Intensive mentorship seems to have contributed to the observed improvement in the well-being of the mentees.

At T3, about 2 months after retirement, the positive changes at T2 tended to be reversed as indicated in the serial trend analysis. As shown in Figure 1, the decreasing pattern in negative measures from T1 to T2 was reversed at T3. From T2 to T3, significant increases in depression, anxiety, and multiple somatic complaints were observed. Moreover, a significant decrease in satisfaction with life also emerged. These observations suggest that the first 2 months after retirement are especially distressful for retirees. These findings are consistent with the patterns revealed in previous studies (Leinonen, Lahelma, & Martikainen, 2013).

At T4, upon completion of the 1-year mentorship, mentees appeared to return to well-being comparable with or better than preretirement levels. In particular, there were significant increases in positive affect and decreases in multiple somatic complaints. Depression and anxiety also returned to T2 levels.

Discussion

The aim of the present study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the AIMS program in maintaining the well-being of the soon-to-retire people going through the retirement transition. The 1-year serial trend analysis suggests that the AIMS program helped enhance positive affect, preserve participants’ self-esteem and life satisfaction, contain depression and anxiety, and reduce multiple somatic complaints. Adopting the development of active interests as a positive entry point, the AIMS was shown to be acceptable to the retirees. A completion rate of 80.5% among mentees is highly respectable for a 1-year mentorship program. Moreover, using trained senior mentors ensured the intervention was intensive enough to produce real behavioral changes. One point that should be noted is that in the present study, participants were recruited through the human resources department of corporates. That might have partly contributed to the good acceptability of the program. Future research should include participants working in smaller corporates or being self-employed. In such context, multiple strategies are likely needed to recruit these participants and support them staying in the program.

The 1-year four-wave data of the present study show that participants’ well-being status changed sharply shortly before and after retirement. Such rapid changes could hardly be revealed in larger scale longitudinal studies which adopted longer intervals between waves of survey. For example, the nationally representative longitudinal study in the United States revealed that around 70% of retirees experienced minimum mental health status changes throughout the 8-year period of retirement, whereas around 25% and 5% retirees, respectively, showed negative and positive changes in mental health status (M. Wang, 2007). Similar study conducted in Germany revealed similar patterns (Pinquart & Schindler, 2007). Findings of the present study provide finer information on the trajectories of key well-being measures around retirement. Future longitudinal studies may incorporate more measuring time points during this unstable period so as understand these trajectories better.

Participants of the study did not show big changes in self-esteem level throughout the retirement process. The findings apparently differ from previous findings that leisure activities is associated with better self-esteem (Reitzes, Mutran, & Verrill, 1995). The discrepancy may be largely due to differences in study design. Being a cross-sectional survey, Reitzes’ findings are about a positive correlation between leisure activities and self-esteem among the soon-to-retire people. Whereas the present study, which adopted a prospective design, suggests that self-esteem level remained more stable than other well-being measures such as life satisfaction during the retirement process.

In contrary to self-esteem, life satisfaction appeared to be more fluctuating, with a mark drop at T3 (2 months after retirement) and a strong rebound at T4 (6 months after retirement). The positive relationship between active lifestyle in old age and personal life satisfaction has long been discussed (Lynott & Lynott, 1996). A recent study has found that retirement releases more free time for “individuals to re-master their own agenda and to invest more time in social and relational activities” (Becchetti, Ricca, & Pelloni, 2011, p. 480). However, before the newly released free time is well occupied, life satisfaction may suffer. In parallel, the mark increase in depression and anxiety at T3 may also have an impact on the trajectory of life satisfaction and the time lag in integrating leisure activities into postretirement life. These findings indicate that the first few months following retirement are especially challenging and deserve special attention.

Previous studies have explored the linkage between leisure activities and subjective well-being (SWB). A meta-analysis by Kuykendall, Tay, and Ng (2015) including 37 studies and 11,834 individuals concludes that there is a moderate association between leisure engagement and SWB. Newman, Tay, and Diener (2013) developed a psychological model explaining how the promotion of leisure activity may enhance SWB. One of the pathways for better SWD is increase in positive affect. Pushkar’s (2010) 2-year longitudinal study on 368 men and women revealed that involvement in activities was associated with increase in positive affect and decrease in negative affect. Findings of the present study suggest that the AIMS program may enhance and maintain positive affect from T2 thru T4. Preservation of positive affect may be a buffer and help participants going through the toughest period around T3.

Previous studies have revealed the increased risk of depression and anxiety during the retirement process (Waller, Kaprio, Korhonen, Tuulio-Henriksson, & Kujala, 2016). Results of the present study echoed these findings, with an upsurge in depression and anxiety level at T3 (2 months after retirement). The AIMS program appears to have helped retirees ride over the challenges, with depression and anxiety levels went down again at T4. Activities might be a component explaining the protective value of the AIMS program.

Recognizing the importance of retirement planning, the AIMS program emphasizes engaging the retirees early. The protocol is to have mentoring commencing 6 months before the actual retirement of each retiree. The arrangement may ensure retirees to take actions early to prepare for retirement. Another local study in Hong Kong with 90 retirees reveals that preretirement planning is predictive of positive changes in people’s well-being after retirement (Yeung, 2013). However, motivating people to make efforts and take actions often demands rather intensive individualized input. The AIMS program can be a cost-effective way of prompting actions.

Theoretical Contribution

A major theoretical contribution of this article is the eight-dimension attributional active interest model. Most of previous research focuses on the contributions of leisure activity to people’s well-being and daily life functioning after retirement, but there are no systematic distinctions on the types of leisure activities and their varied functions and applications. For example, several researches explored the role of gardening and watching TV in elderly’s life after retirement (Bhatti, 2006; Grajczyk & Zöllner, 1998; Östlund, 2009). The AIMS program developed an eight-dimension attributional model capturing very diverse activities. Many of our participants found the attributional model helpful to them in identifying activities suitable to them. The attributional model may also provide a useful framework facilitating future more refined enquiries in this area.

Practical Implications

There are three notable practical implications revealed from the study. First, adopting active interest development and mentorship, the AIMS program offers a viable model for policy makers, human resources administrators and mental health practitioners to address the adjustment needs of the soon-to-retire people. Second, many retirement preparation programs recruit people already retired. Results of the present study suggest that such practice is not satisfactory because the period shortly after retirement is the most challenging. It is desirable to engage the retirees before their actual retirement. The AIMS program demonstrated a workable approach to do it. Third, as the mentor pool has organic growth, the AIMS program can be self-sustaining. Being less reliant on professional staff, the program is affordable and manageable to many corporates and mental health service providers.

Limitations

There are a number of limitations with the present study. In particular, from a research point of view, it is desirable to adopt a randomized controlled trial (RCT) design so that nonintervention effects, such as placebo and seasonal effects, may be estimated. It is also difficult to tell to what extent the trajectories of the well-being variables observed in the study was accounted for by the natural course of people going through retirement. However, ethics are a big consideration here, as the adverse effects of retirement maladjustments can be very long term and, sometimes, irreversible. The risks to the participants in a no-intervention control group can hardly be ignored and should not be underestimated.

As adjustment to retirement can be a long-term experience, some national study followed the retirees up to 8 years (M. Wang, 2007). Future studies should look into the longer term impacts of the AIMS program. Qualitative research method can also be incorporated so as to compensate some of the limitations due to lack of control group. Participants’ lived experience of receiving mentoring, and subsequently becoming next-generation mentors, can be more deeply understood.

Conclusion

Despite some limitations, the findings of this study support the effectiveness of AIMS program to improve soon-to-retire peoples’ well-being, more specifically in enhancing positive affect, preserving participants’ self-esteem and life satisfaction, containing depression and anxiety, and reducing multiple somatic complaints. The research underscores the potentials of mentoring and active interest development in improving soon-to-retirees’ mental health status. The eight-dimension attributional active interest model provides a useful framework for both researchers and mental health practitioners.

Last but not the least, we are delighted to share that, in our experience, about 40% of retirees who had completed the 1-year mentorship expressed interest in rejoining the AIMS as mentors. Having a mentor pool with organic growth, the AIMS can be self-sustaining. These characteristics are important for a retirement preparation program intending to be a universal service, because there are tens of thousands of people retiring every year. In light of the favorable results revealed in the present study, further rigorous studies on the AIMS are worth pursuing.

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, and implemented in collaboration with the Hong Kong Christian Service (HKCS).

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