Six month outcomes of an innovative weekly intergenerational day program with older adults and school‐aged children in a Japanese urban community

Abstract

To describe the nature of the progression of intergenerational interactions among and between older people and children in a weekly intergenerational day program (IDP) in an urban community and to evaluate the older people's health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and depressive symptoms, compared to the program volunteers, as well as the children's perspectives of older people, during the first 6 months of the program's implementation. This longitudinal study, with a convenience sample of older people (n = 14), program volunteers (n = 8), and school-aged children (n = 7), used mixed methods to analyze the results. Participant observations and interviews were used to describe the interactions between the generations over the 6 months. An ANOVA with repeated measures was used to determine the statistical effects over time (initially and at 3 months and 6 months) for HRQOL (Medical Outcomes Study 8-Item Short-Form Health Survey) and depression (Geriatric Depression Scale, GDS-15). Semantic differential scales identified the children's perspectives of older people. The intergenerational interactions were grouped into thirteen categories; for example, "The IDP provided a meaningful sense of place." The quality of life in relation to the mental health of the older people's group improved significantly between the first involvement and after 6 months, while the GDS-15 scores significantly decreased at the three time points in the more depressed older people's subgroup. The children's initial generally positive perspectives of older people showed no statistically significant change over time. The intergenerational interactions in the IDP yielded a meaningful place for both generations, improved the HRQOL of the older people's group, and decreased the depressive symptoms in the more depressed older people's subgroup.