Codesign and Implementation of a Toolkit Supporting Community Organizations’ Intergenerational Practice: A Participatory Action Research Project

Abstract

Intergenerational initiatives have the potential to bring generations together and can have a wide range of benefits for the health of older adults as well as for the development of young people. This paper presents a five-phase participatory action research protocol for the co-design and pilot implementation of a toolkit supporting intergenerational practice across community organizations in the province of Quebec (Canada), as well as the initial impacts of the project. This participatory action research was initiated in response to a need expressed by community organizations for support in selecting, implementing, and evaluating evidence-based intergenerational initiatives. To date, the funding secured for this project has allowed our research team to establish several partnerships with field actors involved in intergenerational practice and conduct the first three phases of the project in collaboration with these partners. While demanding in terms of time and resources, this collaborative work is fruitful and will ensure the creation of a toolkit that meets the needs of knowledge users. This article a) describes the origins of the project; b) outlines a step-by-step process for developing and implementing a participatory action research project with community organizations; and c) discusses the initial impacts of the participatory action research process.