GENERATION TO GENERATION: LESSONS LEARNED FROM AN INTERGENERATIONAL COLLEGE SOCIAL CLUB

Abstract

Traditional college-aged students have little opportunity to foster meaningful relationships with older adults. Coursework for gerontology students often focuses on difficulties in aging, including disease and decline. Students can easily miss getting to know older adults as vibrant individuals and may then treat them stereotypically in clinical settings. Generation to Generation, a gerontology elective at University of San Francisco (USF) for older (over age 55) and younger (18–30 year old) adults, promotes positive intergenerational contact. Results from the course suggest intergenerational interactions in a classroom setting increase younger adults’ positive attitudes toward older adults (Wagner, Dangerfield, & Rodriguez, 2014). When the course was not offered (instructor on sabbatical), previous students formed the Generation to Generation Club. The club held bi-monthly lunchtime discussions in which students from USF and the Fromm Institute for Lifelong Learning discussed topics ranging from dating to ballot propositions. In addition, a mentorship program matched 19 USF students with 19 Fromm students. Pairs communicated with the goal of getting to know someone outside their peer groups. Evaluation indicated that respondents enjoyed group discussions, the mentorship program, and wished to participate again. Challenges included coordinating times where members of both groups were available and encouraging continued attendance despite last-minute cancellations by individuals from both groups. The Generation to Generation social club model of discussion-based learning and personalized mentoring succeeded in stimulating intergenerational relationships and decreased stereotyping of each age group. Replication on college campuses with lifelong learning or at senior centers close to educational institutions is encouraged.