ABSTRACT
A culture might be defined as the customary beliefs, social forms and material characteristics of a social group. The new activity culture is a culture that recognises and actively promotes the vital importance of an active lifestyle for optimum health and wellbeing. In the new culture, an activity is understood to be any constructive engagement with another person or thing. This is a concept far broader and richer than that generally embraced under the terms 'leisure', 'entertainment' or 'group activity'. The key feature of an effective activity culture is two-fold. It operates in the context of an individual goal plan for the client, and its product is positive change in the health and/or well-being of the client. The concept of 'any constructive engagement' will not only embrace the bingo and the reminiscence, it will also include the bath, the hairdo, the table-laying, the cat-stroking, the letter-writing, the corner-shop visit for a paper and a bar of chocolate.
