Introduction: In old age, health is the greatest value. Health promotion is the process of promoting health and preventing disease, disability and premature death through behaviour change activities/occupations. It has three basic objectives: to maintain and increase functional capacity, to maintain and improve self-care and to promote social life. The path to health and well-being is closely linked to daily activities/occupations. Occupational therapy focuses on facilitating meaningful activities/occupations to promote a person's overall health and well-being. Purpose: In this thesis, we investigated the role of occupational therapists in promoting healthy ageing in nursing homes across Slovenia. Methods: In this quantitative study, data were collected by means of an online questionnaire, which was answered by 83 occupational therapists working in nursing homes. Results: For the vast majority of respondents, health promotion means the implementation of activities/occupations aimed at maintaining and improving a person's health and well-being. For the most part, the respondents agree that occupational therapists largely promote and facilitate healthy ageing through activities/occupations for maintaining independence and activities for maintaining physical fitness. Most occupational therapists facilitate or engage in daily activities/occupations to promote healthy ageing. The majority of respondents strongly agree that the most common effects of these activities/occupations undertaken are: independence in the performance of narrower and broader activities; performance of activities/occupations that give the person satisfaction in the performance of the chosen activity; and maintenance of physical performance and cognitive abilities. The biggest obstacles to the implementation of activities/occupations to promote healthy ageing are the insufficient number of occupational therapists in relation to the number of older people in nursing homes, the time constraints for the implementation of health promotion activities/occupations and the limited financial and material resources. Discussion and conclusion: Occupational therapists have an important role to play in the promotion of healthy ageing, and their role is under-expressed. Overcoming obstacles such as limited resources, time constraints and understaffing of occupational therapists in relation to the number of older people, which affect the implementation of healthy ageing activities/occupations, would help to improve the health and well-being of older people in nursing homes. Improving and maintaining health is satisfying for the therapist and older people. More in-depth research should be conducted in the future to confirm the relevance and design of interventions for occupational therapy practice in promoting healthy ageing. Vital is also the translation of research into practice.
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