Habits of a Lifetime: Museum Visitation Amongst Older Australians

Abstract

Recent studies have shown that cultural engagement, including museum attendance, is associated with improved health and wellbeing among older people. Understanding the correlates and reasons for attending museums and art galleries in later life is therefore an important area of research. In this paper, we employ an innovative mixed methods approach to understand museum attendance among older Australians (aged 60 and over). The quantitative component of our study found that (1) the prevalence of museum attendance is substantial, with one in three Australians aged over 60 attending a museum in 2014; (2) high income, holding assets and involvement in cultural activities in childhood were all st..