Feature Article Exploring the meaning of community for older Australians Melanie Hoyle, Carly Ryan and Louise Gustafsson School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Qld, Australia Background/aim: As the population ages, older adults are being encouraged through policy to remain living in their home and community. Occupational therapists are in a position to support individuals to engage in mean- ingful occupations, acknowledging the influence of per- sonal and environmental factors on community participation. The purpose of this study was to under- stand the meaning and experience of community for older Australian adults. Methods: A cross-sectional phenomenological research study design was utilised. Convenience and snowball sam- pling were used to recruit 32 participants with ages rang- ing from 65 to 94 years living in the south east region of Queensland, Australia. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and thematic analysis was used to explore the participants’ responses. Results: Four final themes were revealed: organised things in the community, community is people, commu- nity is what you make of it and the meaning of commu- nity is life. Conclusion: The results support that community extends beyond physicality, with personal motivation, the social environment and community involvement identified as important constructs within each of the themes. The find- ings provide a foundation for future research and occupa- tional therapy practices to support older adults to age in place. KEY WORDS ageing, occupation, older adult, participa- tion, qualitative research. Introduction Population ageing is a global phenomenon that occurs as the proportion of older people becomes larger in relation to the total population (World Health Organisa- tion, 2007). Australian statistics clearly reflect this, with the proportion of adults aged over 65 years expected to increase from 13.8% in 2011 to 22.3% by 2051 (Austra- lian Bureau of Statistics, 2008; Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2012a). This shift has widespread implications for governments (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2012b), resulting in key policy changes to meet the needs of the ageing population. The World Health Organisation’s Active Ageing Framework (World Health Organisation, 2002) provided the foundation for the development of Australia’s Positive Ageing Agenda and the Living Longer Living Better reform, with a focus on supporting individuals to age in their place of choice while max- imising participation, maintaining functional indepen- dence and a connection to their community (Commonwealth of Australia, 2012). The framework acknowledges that active and positive ageing occurs both in the home and community. Therefore, it is important that the meaning of these diverse environ- ments is understood from the perspective of older adults. Across occupational therapy literature, the meaning and experience of the home environment for older adults is well researched and documented (Gardner, 2011). However, ageing in place is more complex than maintaining home occupancy (Feist, 2011; Siebert, 2007), and evidence suggests that people are more likely to spend increased time in the environments immediately outside the home as they age (Feist, 2011; Means & Evans, 2012). The World Health Organisation Global Network of Age-friendly Cities and Communities has identified core features of age-friendly cities that opti- mise the environment for people as they age (World Health Organisation, 2007). This work has driven policy and subsequent research, focusing predominantly on physical aspects of the environment rather than the per- sonal experiences of individuals (Gardner, 2011; Plouffe & Kalache, 2010). The experience of community is not homogenous; it is shaped by a complex interplay of fac- tors, including an individual’s perceptions, interpreta- tions and experience (Cloutier-Fisher & Harvey, 2009; Melanie Hoyle MOccThySt, PostGradDipPsych, Grad- DipHlthSc, BSci(Psych); Associate Lecturer in Occupational Therapy. Carly Ryan BOccThy(Hons), Undergraduate Hon- ours Student in Occupational Therapy. Louise Gustafsson PhD, BOccThy(Hons); Head of Occupational Therapy. Correspondence: Melanie Hoyle, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Qld 4072, Australia. Email: m.hoyle@uq.edu.au Accepted for publication 12 October 2015. © 2015 Occupational Therapy Australia Australian Occupational Therapy Journal (2016) 63, 86–94 doi: 10.1111/1440-1630.12251