“A Tangible Gift of Intangible Value”: The Process of Legacy Creation Among Older Adults

Abstract

This study describes the process of older adults creating a legacy of values (e.g., legacy letter), which promotes generativity by communicating emotional and supportive instruction (e.g., values and life lessons) to others. We conducted semi-structured interviews with community-dwelling older adults (n = 16, mean age 72.3 years) who had previously created a legacy of values. Following an interpretive descriptive framework, we integrated deductive and inductive coding, identified patterns through constant comparative analysis, and generated categories describing the essential (i.e., Motivation, Selecting Audience and Format, Selecting Content, and Sharing) and ancillary (i.e., procedural) elements of the process. Creation was a non-linear, iterative, and individualized process that helped participants communicate what matters most. Participants tailored the contents and format to the intended recipients, revised their document over time, and recommended the process to others. Our findings indicate that creating a legacy of values in a self-directed way is an accessible, appealing and individualized process.

Keywords

qualitative methods well-being generativity symbolic immortality creativity legacy letters

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