Date Presented 3/30/2017
Occupational therapy’s role in transition services has historically demonstrated positive outcomes throughout the lifespan. This study considers the lived experience of the occupational transition of athletic retirement as a potential emerging area of practice for the profession.
Primary Author and Speaker: Michael Smoot
Contributing Authors: Abbey Marterella
PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to examine the occupational transition of athletic retirement for collegiate athletes to understand their lived experience. Transitions involve moving from one state to another, which may result in disequilibrium (Orentlicher, Schefkind, & Gibson, 2015). Athletic retirement is a life transition involving withdrawal from the athlete role, which research has demonstrated may cause adverse effects related to an individual’s identity, health, and well-being. A systematic review of the athletic career transition literature indicated a focus more on complications of retirement from elite sport rather than thriving postretirement (Knights, Sherry, & Ruddock-Hudson, 2015). Furthermore, a recent study indicated that athletes’ perception about support systems at the end of their sport career is generally negative, signifying a need to improve support for post–sport career athletes (dos Santos, Nogueira, & Böhme, 2016). According to Pettican and Prior (2011), “retirement is an occupationally oriented life transition and, as such, it is of interest and relevance to both the occupational therapy profession and the academic discipline of occupational science” (p. 13). A review of the occupational therapy (OT) and occupational science (OS) literature reveals that retirement as an occupational transition is generally considered as it pertains to work, but lacking for athletics. By addressing this gap in knowledge, this study provides an occupational perspective of the retirement experience for collegiate athletes, which may suggest ways to support them throughout the athletic retirement process.
DESIGN: A phenomenological approach was adopted for this study to explore individual meanings and experiences related to the occupational transition of athletic retirement. Three male participants, collegiate football players 3–5 yr postretirement, were recruited using purposive sampling.
METHOD: Individual semistructured interviews, ranging from 40 to 55 min each, were recorded and transcribed verbatim by the researcher. Data analysis consisted of listing of expressions relevant to the experience (horizonalization), clustering and thematization of experiences, individualized textural descriptions, individualized structural descriptions, and reflexive journaling to record decisions and reflections throughout the study.
RESULTS: The data analysis process discovered five recurring themes shared among the participants, which included initial relief, struggling with identity, missing the support of a team, lost connection to the sport, and an enduring search for other meaningful occupations.
CONCLUSION: The findings of this study reveal a societal need for occupational therapists to develop interventions aimed at improving quality of life for postcareer athletes. Retirement from sport is an endeavor all athletes will endure in their lifetime, but these transitions could have more positive outcomes. The occupational transition of athletic retirement is a uniquely complex and challenging experience, yet these participants shared similar challenges demonstrated by their loss of identity, roles, routines, and social support as they adjusted to life following their athletic career. Occupational therapists are already equipped with the knowledge and skill set to assist individuals confronting these types of challenges, such as establishing healthy habits and routines, developing effective coping strategies, identifying activities of interest, engaging in mindfulness, obtaining coaching, participating in social networking, and establishing a new identity. These findings extend the OT and OS literature on the occupational transition of retirement and provide knowledge to assist clients through similar occupational transitions.
References
dos Santos, A. L. P., Nogueira, M. G. R., & Böhme, M. T. S. (2016). Elite athletes’ perception of retirement support systems. International Journal of Physical Education, Sports and Health, 3(1), 192–199. Retrieved from http://www.kheljournal.com/archives/2016/vol3issue1/PartD/3-1-37.pdf
Knights, S., Sherry, E., & Ruddock-Hudson, M. (2015). Investigating elite end-of-athletic-career transition: A systematic review. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 28, 291–308. https://doi.org/10.1080/10413200.2015.1128992
Merryman, M. B., Eskow, K., & Demchick, B. B. (2015). Mental health and emotional needs in transition. In M. L. Orentlicher, S., Schefkind, & R. Gibson (Eds.), Transitions across the lifespan: An occupational therapy approach (pp. 191–211). Bethesda, MD: AOTA Press.
Orentlicher, M. L., Schefkind, S., & Gibson, R. (Eds.). (2015). Transitions across the lifespan: An occupational therapy approach. Bethesda, MD: AOTA Press.
Pettican, A., & Prior, S. (2011). It’s a new way of life: An exploration of the occupational transition of retirement. British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 74, 12–19. https://doi.org/10.4276/030802211X12947686093521
