Interorganizational Collaboration for Intergenerational Community Development: Application of the Social Capital Framework

In intergenerational programs, people from multiple generations share their talents, build healthy social relationships, and experience improved well-being and social presence and identity (Lee et al., 2021). As a part of age-friendly community initiative in a small city in the Northeast, an intergenerational engagement community project, named “Senior to Senior”, involved a multi-year partnership among community agencies, including the local Office for Aging, a university, a high school, a senior center, and a church. As part of this partnership, a community dance was held in May of 2022, where local high school students and older adults participated in a variety of intergenerational activities. This study explored how the principles of social capital are incorporated into the development of intergenerational and age-friendly communities. Using focus groups with community partners (n=6) and surveys with older adult participants (n=29), the research team sought to describe how community agencies collaborate on the development of intergenerational and age-friendly communities. Carpiano’s framework of social capital (2008) guided the data analysis and the development of following themes: (a) importance of social capital identification; (b) development of social cohesion among multiple generations; (c) assessment of social antecedent for the development of intergenerational and age-friendly community; and, (d) outcomes of the community events on diverse stakeholders. The findings highlight the importance of understanding the contextual factors of each community and the agencies within, while also elucidating the necessity of stakeholder buy-in for the sustainable development of intergenerational and age-friendly communities.

Intergenerational engagement is a universal human development process that helps older adults’ successful aging (Krzeczkowska et al., 2021) and children’s optimal development (McAlister et al., 2019). As part of an age-friendly initiative in a small city in New York State, an intergenerational engagement program (Senior to Senior Dinner Dance) involved a multi-year partnership between community agencies, including a local Office for Aging, university, high school, senior center, and church. As part of this partnership, a community dance was held in 2022 and 2023, where high school students and older adults participated in a variety of intergenerational activities. Findings from a process evaluation of this interorganizational initiative (e.g., focus groups with six community partners; surveys with 56 older adults), using a thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006), revealed: (a) social cohesion included mutual trust amongst community stakeholders; (b) social capital was achieved by leveraging existing resources with collective goals; and (c) intergenerational engagement was promoted through the equal status, common goals, and interorganizational cooperation of participants, in addition to sanctions and support from organizers. Findings from this study highlight important lessons for those, particularly those in communities with limited resources, who wish to develop and sustain intergenerational programs. Lessons learned include the importance of mutual trust among community partners, the utilization of existing resources, and the necessity of buy-in from upper administration in each agency. Lastly, intergenerational activities (e.g., dining, dancing) can promote initial positive contact between distinct age cohorts, which may help to advance larger age-friendly initiatives.

Conducting evaluative research on intergenerational programs is key to understanding if they are functioning as intended. Research on program impact is also critical for prioritization and decision-making in an increasingly competitive market with many programming choices. Implementation studies can help researchers identify needed modifications for replication or introduction to new populations, which is particularly important as universities and communities work to become Age-Friendly. There is growing demand by educational entities (e.g., universities, high schools) and organizations that serve older adults (e.g., senior centers, adult day services, lifelong learning institutes, and residential programs) to identify rigorous methods that can be used to analyze outcomes for students and older adults who take part. This symposium focuses on evaluation methods for intergenerational programs and highlights diverse examples of how researchers have evaluated their programs. The presenters will discuss best practices and challenges to conducting research on these programs as well as the findings of the studies. The first paper will discuss the creation of an intergenerational contact measure. The second paper will describe how an intergenerational classroom was examined using data from instructors and students. The third paper will detail how a quasi-experimental design was used to examine outcomes for an intergenerational program on older adult participants. The fourth paper will discuss how data was gathered from various stakeholders to examine the impacts of an intergenerational classroom. Amy Eisenstein, Senior Program Officer at RRF Foundation for Aging will serve as the discussant. Intergenerational Learning, Research, and Community Engagement Interest Group Sponsored Symposium.

Music-Based Intergenerational Programs, Older Adults and Community Engagement Through Music.Research in music-based intergenerational programming has shown benefits such as improved cross-age attitudes and cross-age interactions between younger and older generations. However, there is limited information pertaining to how older adults' experiences change based on the age of the younger participants. The purpose of this paper was to compare older adults' experiences in three multiple-aged music intergenerational programs. Older adults were involved in one of three musicbased intergenerational groups with youth of differing ages: preschoolers, elementary-age children, and college-age young adults. The preschool program focused on teaching academic skills through music activities. Participants in the elementary program interacted with fourth-graders through singing, moving to music, playing instruments, and structured conversations. Older adults in the college program participated with music majors in a rock band and chorus, and performed a final concert at the local university. Older adult participants were interviewed upon completion of the programs. Results revealed that older adults had different motivations for participating in the three varied intergenerational programs (preschool, elementary, and college programs). Differences were also discovered in older adults' descriptions of the programs, and in perceptions of the programs' benefits provided to the younger generations. The author will discuss how to use these findings to structure future intergenerational programming in school and community settings.

This study intended to analyze how social capital works in the developing marine tourism in Karimunjawa Indonesia. This research was conducted in Karimunjawa. The data was collected with snowball sampling techniques. The data collection methods used consisted of participatory observation methods, in-depth interviews, and documentation. The data obtained were analyzed using the interactive analysis method. The results of the study indicate that the strong social capital formed in Karimunjawa has a very big influence on tourism activities in Karimunjawa. The social capital in tourism in Karimunjawa is based on many networks that are formed, supported by mutual trust, and still rooted in various social values and norms in the community that support the strength of existing social capital. It results in collective actions in the form of synergy and cooperation between the community and various tourism stakeholders in tourism activities in Karimunjawa. The social capital formed in Karimunjawa consists of three types. They are Bonding Social Capital, Social Bridging Capital, and Social Linking Capital which are complementary and mutually reinforcing so that they cannot be separated. However, between the three social capitals, bridging social capital is the biggest power base in realizing the progress of tourism in Karimunjawa.

A Social Capital Framework for Palliative Care: Supporting Health and Well-Being for People With Life-Limiting Illness and Their Carers Through Social Relations and Networks

In the last few decades as American society and urban life has changed dramatically, public health and urban sociological research has focused on the effect of residential location on individual well being. In recent years, social capital theory has been used as an important pathway in understanding the associations between where one lives and health and social outcomes. This research has often relied on Putnam’s theory (1993, 1995, 2000) and a communitarian approach to defining social capital and its possible relationship to health and well-being. Although Putnam’s social capital constructs have been popular with many researchers, it has been criticized for its lack of depth and its inability to explain the causal pathways in which social capital and health operate. In addition to the negative impacts of this over-reliance of Putnam’s work within the public health literature, there has been substantial criticism that the measures used by Putnam based theorists are too conceptually broad and limited in scope as it is often reduced to three variables. In this research, we use a more recent paradigm of social capital theory that delineates social capital into several dimensions thereby enabling one to understand that different forms of social capital and cohesion have different impacts (both negative and positive) on health outcomes and well-being. We will evaluate a strictly Putnam-based social capital model as measured by the predominant three variables against the utility of a multi-dimensional model that measures social capital across several constructs and variables. We utilize this re-specified framework that delineates the different forms of social capital from social cohesion (the Putnam-based Traditional Model) while incorporating neighborhood social conditions as antecedent factors within the model with a new dataset. Additionally, recent sociological research using this different paradigm highlighted the important role of individual attachment to the neighborhood as an important mediator in the association between social capital and health outcomes. We will analyze data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS), a longitudinal birth cohort study of families in 20 cities with populations of 200,000 or more people. Using FFCWB wave 4 data responses by mothers, we investigate the role of social capital as measured across four dimensions, social cohesion (the Putnam-based Traditional Model), individual neighborhood attachment, and neighborhood socio-economic conditions on the likelihood of maternal smoking, drinking, and self rated health. Moreover, this model will be enhanced by the addition of another feature of social capital that was not addressed in prior research, bridging social capital. Bridging social capital has also been defined as relationships among individuals who are not alike in social identity or characteristics. In recent years, bridging social capital at times has been further refined to highlight the relationships with heterogeneous networks who do not share the same power structures and institutions, and economic spheres. This has been referred to as “linking” social capital. In this research, we will incorporate a measure of bridging social capital to highlight the possible role this form of social capital may play in understanding the association of social capital and health outcomes. This research extends the current literature by applying a recently developed model of social capital on a new data set. This study hopes to not only to explore self rated health, neighborhood socioeconomic conditions, indicators of social capital (as defined by social support, social leverage, informal social control, neighborhood organization participation, and bridging social capital), and the role of individual neighborhood attachment but also highlight the importance for public health researchers to use a multidimensional approach rather than rely on utilizing a traditional Putnam-based approach to understanding the association between social capital and health and well-being. These different dimensions, along with other health factors, will be statistically tested through multiple regression analysis, which will highlight a hypothesized interaction effect between individual neighborhood attachment and social capital and its association with health outcomes and behaviors. In this research, we aim to further advance the public health discourse regarding the association between social capital, measured across several dimensions and conceptualized through a network based lens, and health outcomes.

Intergenerational programs increase interaction among groups allowing both generations to share their beliefs, talents, knowledge, and wisdom. The Senior Programming Intergenerational College Experience (SPICE) Project was designed to deliver an 11-week long intergenerational program with college-aged and older adult participants and was provided virtually during the pandemic. The purpose of this study was to describe the participation characteristics and attitudes towards aging and technology of older adults who completed the SPICE program. Older adult recruitment occurred through paper fliers posted at senior centers/housing, libraries, faith-based organizations in Genesee County, Michigan and through a large state-wide electronic study recruitment portal. Older adult participants were English speaking; aged 55+ years; able to participate in live Zoom sessions once/week; and were committed to complete >75% of the SPICE program. Online surveys were completed before/after SPICE to evaluate attitudes towards aging and technophilia. Results from 15 older adults who completed >75% of SPICE sessions indicated that they were able to cope with life as they got older (60%), viewed aging as a positive experience (85.7%), were not afraid to use new technology (68.6%) and believed technology was useful/fun (88.6%). Older adults were divided on willingness to try new technology and their ability to keep up with technological progress. These data indicate that for higher education institutions focused on designing age-inclusive online opportunities, older adults who possess a positive attitude toward aging and technology may be more likely to complete intergenerational programs.

Channels matter: Multimodal connectedness, types of co-players and social capital for Multiplayer Online Battle Arena gamers

This thesis examines the complex relationship between social capital and the welfare state. Focusing on the measurement of both social capital and the welfare state, it highlights the importance of accounting for dimensionality in explaining the role of the welfare state in effecting social capital outcomes. It draws attention to how conflicting evidence for the welfare states influence on social capital relates to theoretical and methodological choices. Building on existing theory and evidence, it provides a workable framework for social capital that is theoretical and empirically substantiated. The framing of the debate for the welfare state's role in effecting social capital outcomes is primarily within the context of the 'crowding-out' debate, which reflects the broader ideological narratives of the relationship between the individual, market and state. Here I draw attention to two limiting assumptions; i) that the welfare state 'crowds-in' or 'crowds-out' ii) that it affects everyone equally. These two issues form the basis for the first two research questions, where we aim to understand in what circumstances 'crowding-out' occurs and whether this varies according to socioeconomic factors. In the final analytical, I consider how the established dimensions of social capital relate to one another, highlighting the central role of trust in social capital formation and implications for welfare state policy. The analyses combine European Quality of Life Survey data and contextual information using a range of quantitative methods, including multilevel modelling, structural equation modelling and path analysis. The findings show that generous and universal welfare provision is important for social capital outcomes but is limited in alleviating the inequalities between socioeconomic groups.

Evidence-based intergenerational (IG) programs bring youth and older adults together in shared activities and promote socioemotional health across age-groups. The core components of these IG programs include 14 IG "best practices" that should be implemented during IG program sessions to optimize program effectiveness for both youth and older adult participants. Despite the proliferation of IG programs across the United States, it is unclear the extent to which these IG best practices have been implemented in the community. This preliminary study assesses the implementation of IG best practices at two community-based sites by program leaders who participated in a multifaceted professional education intervention for IG best practice use. Implementation of best practices was measured through the Best Practices Checklist completed by program leaders and trained coders as well as through narrative written comments. Program leaders indicated that they were able to consistently implement six out of the 14 IG best practices in 46 IG sessions, whereas the best practice named "Adaptations to equipment were made" was least likely to be implemented. Analysis of narrative comments indicated that (a) the group arrangement of participants and (b) program leaders' familiarity with activities also influenced implementation. While many IG best practices can be implemented in the community, some best practices can be implemented with greater ease and consistency. Training resources can support IG best practice implementation; however, our multifaceted professional education intervention may benefit from the addition of case examples or vignettes to depict potential strategies for optimizing evidence-based IG practices.

To develop, field test and analyse a social capital survey instrument for measuring the nursing work environment. The concept of social capital, which focuses on improving productive capacity by examining relationships and networks, may provide a promising framework to measure and evaluate the nurse work environment in a variety of settings. A survey instrument for measuring social capital in the nurse work environment was developed by adapting the World Bank's Social Capital - Integrated Questionnaire (SC-IQ). Exploratory factor analysis and multiple regression analyses were applied to assess the properties of the instrument. The exploratory factor analysis yielded five factors that align well with the social capital framework, while reflecting unique aspects of the nurse work environment. The results suggest that the social capital framework provides a promising context to assess the nurse work environment. Further work is needed to refine the instrument for a diverse range of health-care providers and to correlate social capital measures with quality of patient care. Social capital measurement of the nurse work environment has the potential to provide managers with an enhanced set of tools for building productive capacity in health-care organisations and achieving desired outcomes.

Since 2019, a university-community partnership has connected undergraduate students with older adults from independent living and community-based settings (i.e., library, art museum) for a photography-based intergenerational program. This study compares the implementation and impacts of this photography-based intergenerational program both in an in-person format before the COVID-19 pandemic (n=34) and an online format during the COVID-19 pandemic (n=25). Pre- and post- results from older adult and undergraduate student participants regarding social connection and evaluation comments from program participants and staff were compared between the pre-pandemic, in-person format, and the same program’s offering the next year in a virtual format. Results indicate that the benefits of this intergenerational photography program were experienced at a similar level during and before COVID-19. Findings demonstrate that intergenerational programs could effectively continue in remote formats, while also identifying potential challenges in implementation for staff regarding managing logistics and maintaining engagement among participants.

PurposeMass participation sport events, such as running events, have the potential to foster social capital among event participants. The purpose of this study is to investigate the interrelationships among sport event participation, social capital and various (behavioral, psychological, informational and negative) outcomes.Design/methodology/approachFollowing Putnam's social capital approach, a research model was developed and tested using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling, based on survey data from 301 runners with varied running histories and event experiences.FindingsResults showed a limited impact of sport event participation on participants' social capital, indicating that the temporary interactions within the event timeframe were insufficient to generate sustainable social capital among event participants. Nevertheless, significant relationships were found between social capital and behavioral, psychological and informational outcomes of social capital, suggesting that social capital can be converted to a range of benefits for participants and the event community.Practical implicationsEvent marketers and sponsors should take strategic actions to enhance participants' social experience and cultivate social capital, which may help them gain support from the event community irrespective of past experiences with participation.Originality/valueThis study extends Putnam's social capital framework into mass participation sport event context. As an initial effort to quantitatively test the linkage among event participation, social capital and various outcomes, this study offers empirical insights into the role of sport event participation in generating long-term social benefits for event participants.

The purpose of this research was to identify how teaching at multiple institutions impacts social capital of faculty within the Haitian AET system. Putnam’s social capital framework was used in the current study. Social capital is developed based on relationships with others. Bonding social capital is homogenous; bridging social capital is heterogonous; linking social capital connects an individual with external resources. A mixed methods approach was used in order to accomplish the study’s objectives. Results from the quantitative portion of this research showed a low positive association between teaching at multiple institutions and bonding social capital. Similarly, a moderate positive association between teaching at multiple institutions and linking social capital was found. Conversely, data showed a negligible negative association between linking social capital and teaching at multiple institutions. The qualitative portion of this research showed that most educators were optimistic about teaching at various institutions; however, faculty indicated teaching at multiple institutions did not translate directly into an increase in their social capital. In fact, teaching at multiple institutions only increased the demands on their time caused by having multiple appointments. It is recommended that universities invest in platforms and strategies to increase faculty’s social capital. From a theoretical perspective, this research applies social capital theory in a new context. This research may also have value to development researchers working with higher education faculty in other countries.