Challenging Gerontophobia and Ageism Through a Collaborative Intergenerational Art Program

Prejudices against older adults have been shown to reduce effective care delivery and impact long-term health outcomes for older adults. In an effort to combat these prejudices, intergenerational—and often unidirectional—programs focus on challenging ageism. The PALETTE program takes this further to employ collaborative activities as a way to challenge the gerontophobia that often accompanies ageism. Promoting Art for Life Enrichment Through Transgenerational Engagement (PALETTE) is an innovative program for interprofessional undergraduate and graduate students that combines intergenerational arts activities with formal education on aging, ageism, and gerontophobia. Having demonstrated success in changing the attitudes of students, PALETTE serves as a model for an internationally replicable program that has the potential to improve person-centered care while educating future generations of older adults about positive, optimal aging.     

Older Adults' Perceptions of Well-Being after Intergenerational Experiences with Youth

Abstract

Drawing upon Ryff's (1995) positive dimensions of well-being in older adulthood, thisstudy investigated older adults' perceptions of well-being following participation in anintergenerational program. Specifically, we examined the relationship between age, years of volunteer service, and sense of well-being among older adults (n= 46; 55 to 100 years of age) participating in intergenerational programs at 10 sites in Midwestern, agriculturally based communities. Using a mixedmethods design, results revealed that olderadults perceive a heightened sense of well-being from intergenerational interactions wit youth. Older adults reported successful aging included staying active, not worrying aboutone's problems, feeling young, and keeping up with the children and community. Adults aged 74-85 experienced significantly greater satisfaction and enjoyment than their older counterparts, particularly in anticipating working with youth and positive self-perception. No relationship emerged between years of involvement in the program and well-being. Implications for research and program development are discussed.     

Intergenerational Programming for Foster-Adoptive Families

Abstract

Generations of Hope serves foster and adoptive children, their adoptive families and older adults through an innovative program that is breaking new ground in the development of caring intergenerational communities. It was created in 1993 as a non-profit social service agency designed to improve the service delivery and policies of the child welfare system; it ended up helping not only foster and adopted children but senior citizens as well. This paper examines critical social issues facing both foster children and senior citizens in the United States and how this program created a neighborhood that combines several generations of kin-like support to meet the needs of these vulnerable groups. We describe how the Generations of Hope model brings together in tangible ways critical shifts in perspective regarding foster care and gerontology. The lessons we have learned speak to research, policy making and practice.     

Service Learning with Rural Older Adults

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the effects of a service-learning project with rural older adults on social work students' choice of working professionally with older adults upon graduation. Service learning is a course-based community service experience designed to enhance students' understanding of course content while meeting an identified community need at the same time. The service-learning intergenerational project consisted of ten hours of face-to-face interaction between a BSW student and an older adult living in rural South West Virginia and the city of Charleston. Twenty-one undergraduate social work students attending the Micro Practice course participated in the study. Data collection consisted of face-to-face interviews guided by a set of open-ended questions. Data analysis revealed that participation in the intergenerational project did not change a students' choice of major but it increased their desire to explore the field of aging.     

Intergenerational Solidarity in Korean Immigrant Families

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative study is to advance the concepts of the intergenerational solidarity model by using samples of Korean immigrant families. This advancement will be useful for subsequent quantitative studies. This exploratory study uncovered multiple themes that support intergenerational solidarity between Korean immigrant grandparents and grandchildren. These themes characterized supportive relationships based on affection, consensus, a mutual exchange of resources, familial norm, and structural factors such as cohabitation or religion. At the same time, this study showed disagreement and tensions between generations which resulted from different attitudes toward roles and values, as well as being burdened by care. The results of this study provide basic perspectives to clinicians, service providers, and researchers and will improve their understanding of intergenerational relationships among Korean immigrants.     

Retirement Income Security in the United States of America

Abstract

Population aging in the United States poses a challenge for the present and coming generations: how to financially support the growing numbers of retired people? There is also a need to explore the potential for conflict across generations if young people see themselves as funding a system that may not be able to support them fully when they are older. This paper explores this intergenerational dimension and suggests that such stories of potential conflict are not borne out by research.     

Aging in Timorese Exile: (Im)mobilities of Care and Intergenerational Relationships

ABSTRACT

This paper discusses transnational care and border regimes in the context of the East Timorese exile in rural Indonesia. Drawing from multi-sited ethnographic research, it explores the ways older people cope with family separation and life in exile, their aspirations, when and how transnational care becomes “on hold”, and how they deal with the impossibility of meeting intergenerational and cultural obligations. Analyzing care using the lens of “circulation”, the paper attends to the asymmetries entailed in intergenerational relationships as well as to how uneven power relations of border regimes shape transnational care exchanges. In the context of “aging in exile”, the paper underlines the importance of understanding older persons’ narratives as they are linked with the ambivalences of other family members across generations. The paper argues that the forms of immobility withholding or limiting caregiving can transcend physical boundaries. They can include the social and emotional borders conflict-divided communities build against one another over time. These “imaginary” borders require us to think about the additional asymmetries entailed in precarious familial relations and how this affects the multiple meanings of care in the context of contemporary border regimes and amid enduring legacies of violence.     

The construct of intergenerational solidarity in a lineage perspective: A discussion on underlying theoretical assumptions

Although the construct of intergenerational solidarity has been crucial in analyses of relationships between family generations and contradictory results are obtained, the theoretical assumptions underlying the construct have not been discussed. The present aim is to make this construct of intergenerational solidarity a subject of debate, primarily focusing on the assumed connections between the dimensions of the construct and the theoretical presumptions found in Durkheim's concept of mechanical solidarity. The discussion relies on various empirical studies of family generations. It is concluded that the theoretical assumptions underlying the construct do not seem to be adequate for describing family relations across generations, and an alternative theoretical approach is suggested as a basis for further discussion.     

Intergenerational Impact of the AIDS Pandemic in Nigeria

ABSTRACT

This paper articulates and assesses the intergenerational impact of the AIDS pandemic in Nigeria based on literature reviews and mailed surveys. The findings reveal that, with the advent of colonialism in the 19th century, the wave of modernization, and the new idea of nuclear family system, intergenerational bonds and relationships were weakened to an extent. But the arrival of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s and its steady increase worsened the situation. Intergenerational relationships have been affected to the extent that bonds between generations are collapsing. The AIDS pandemic creates social isolation and stigmatization of the infected and affected population. Since the middle generation is mostly infected, the older and younger generations who depend on them suffer most of the consequences. Some efforts have been made by the government and non-governmental organizations to address the increasing rate of infection. But little has been done to mitigate the impact of the pandemic especially on intergenerational relationships. As a possible solution, this paper suggests some intergenerational programming and policy approaches to address the problem, and achieve better intergenerational relationships in Nigeria at this time of crisis.     

Intergenerational Activities that Promote Engaging Conversations are Preferred among Young and Older Adults

ABSTRACT

Loneliness negatively affects young and older adults. Intergenerational activities foster social connectedness. Using quantitative and qualitative methods, this study explored which intergenerational activities are most enjoyable for college students and retirement community residents. Demographics, loneliness, enjoyment, conversation level, and type of activity were analyzed. The enjoyment and conversation variables were positively correlated (r = .59, p < .001) which was supported by participants’ narratives. Both populations most enjoyed the activities with higher conversation levels, with the first being committees, followed by meals, one on one activities, and transportation. Retirement communities and universities should promote intergenerational activities, which include meaningful conversations.     

The Impact of AIDS on Intergenerational Relationships in Africa

Abstract

This paper describes die impact of AIDS on intergenerational relationships in Africa (especially Sub-Saharan Africa). The AIDS infection in Sub-Saharan Africa has expanded astronomically with up to 18.5 million living with the disease. Young adults between the ages of 14 and 49 are most likely to be infected. In the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa, three levels of HIV/AIDS infection among adults can be identified-hardest hit, high, and moderate. This ranges from 3.6% for moderate level to 35.8% for the hardest hit. The situation has changed the youth population profile and has numerous quality of life implications for young people, older adults, and a multi-dimensional impact on community life.

With the adverse socioeconomic and psychological effect of AIDS, interactions between members of the different generations are made difficult-relationships are becoming more of a burden than a mutual source of satisfaction. Children and young adults are losing their parents and mentors, and sometimes have to take care of their infected and dying parents at a very early stage in life. The older population is now losing its social and economic support, which hitherto, they have drawn from their adult children, and at the same time, they are assuming a new caregiving role to either their infected and affected children or grandchildren, or both.

Hope exists if the trend is checked by AIDS prevention efforts with examples drawn from countries like Uganda, Senegal, and Nigeria. But since there are some victims already, efforts should be made to help them cope with the stress and adverse effects of the disease. Governmental policies should also aim at assisting victims and volunteers financially. As part of the strategy, intergenerational relationships at family, organizational and community levels should be strengthened. Reinforcing the value of being one's “brother's keeper” both as individuals and groups/organizations is crucial at this time of crisis.     

Intergenerational solidarity: the paradox of reciprocity imbalance in ageing welfare states

In this article a new theoretical framework is applied to a research field that is somewhat fragmented, namely that of intergenerational solidarity in ageing welfare states. Inspired by utilitarian considerations many scholars tend to problematize the lack of reciprocity characterizing intergenerational exchanges. As some generations are longer old and more numerous they may receive excessive state‐administered support of the younger generations, especially in a democratic setting. However, in reality there is limited empirical evidence of intergenerational conflict and theoretical explanations of this paradox are rare. An integrated and dynamical approach that incorporates Durkheim's solidarity theory, Honneth's intersubjective recognition theory, and the current work on reciprocal exchange is necessary in order to understand the survival of intergenerational solidarity in ageing welfare states. According to this model reciprocal recognition leading to the empathization of exchanges is the driving force of intergenerational solidarity in a prefigurative and democratized culture where the status of the young has risen dramatically. Hence, we come to the paradoxical conclusion that attempts to preserve intergenerational solidarity by openly denouncing excessive transfers and trying to bypass them institutionally sometimes might be counterproductive because they may erode their empathic underpinnings.     

Do close parent-child relations reduce the mortality risk of older parents?

This analysis examines the association between affectional solidarity in older parent-child relationships, and the parents' length of survival over a 14-year interval. It is hypothesized that close intergenerational relations have the capacity to reduce pathogenic stress among elderly parents, thereby enhancing their ability to survive. Direct and buffering effects of affectional solidarity, as expressed by 439 elderly parents, are tested using data from the U.S.C. Longitudinal Study of Generations collected between 1971 and 1985. Buffering effects are examined in the context of social decline and social loss experienced by the older parent. Hazard regression models indicate that greater intergenerational affect increases survival time among parents who experienced a loss in their social network, particularly among those who were widowed less than five years. Neither a direct effect of affection nor a buffering effect in the presence of social decline were found. It is concluded that the mortal health risks associated with the stress of being widowed can be partially offset by affectionate relations with adult children.     

Sustainability Processes among Naturally Occurring Retirement Community Supportive Service Programs

ABSTRACT

Sustainability remains a concern for community models to better support older adults’ aging in place in their own homes and communities. Based on qualitative data from leaders of 53 Naturally Occurring Retirement Community (NORC) Supportive Service Programs, which is among the most prominent community practice models in aging, we aimed to develop an empirically-grounded framework on sustainability processes. Results indicated that programs use funding, staff members, interorganizational partnerships, and volunteers to offer services to attract older adults, and that older adults’ participation, in turn, is perceived as influencing the accrual of additional resources. Across themes, respondents discussed the importance of being responsive to the community and facilitating consumer participation.     

Using intergenerational relationship teaching strategies in a college-level online gerontology course

Society members educated in gerontology are needed to care for older adults in the United States. Young people may have misconceptions and lack of awareness about aging and older adults, which may influence choosing jobs working with elders. However, research has shown that on-ground courses using intergenerational relationships as a teaching strategy have proved to be effective in changing the views of students. This article reports on the experiences of college-level students in an online gerontology course that used an intergenerational relationship teaching strategy. Through journal entries and discussion board postings, students shared new understandings about aging, elders, and themselves. Data were analyzed using narrative inquiry and the threedimensional (3D) inquiry space. Findings showed students’ views could be changed through intergenerational relationships with reflection in an online course.     

Intergenerational solidarity: An attachment perspective

The concept of intergenerational solidarity between parents and children has been addressed within sociology using an increasing number of dimensions, some overlapping with phenomena studied in attachment theoretical research within psychology. Attachment theory is an important candidate for cross-disciplinary research into intergenerational solidarity, because it identifies causal processes within individuals as well as relationships. Due to its developmental nature the attachment theory is also highly relevant to life-cycle issues surrounding intergenerational solidarity. In this theoretical review, the basic dimensions which attachment theory uses to describe relationships are articulated with reference to pertinent issues under the rubric of intergenerational solidarity. Examples are provided to illustrate how at the cross-section of psychology and sociology these dimensions (direction, quality, and penetration) can be used for answering questions (patterns of exchange, tensions, ambivalence) about relationships between adult children and aging parents.     

Harvard Crooners: Building Intergenerational Relationships Through Participatory Music Making

The world is rapidly aging, and yet aging is fraught with many difficulties. In particular, the rights of older people to participate fully in cultural life are frequently not met. To help address this issue, we propose an innovative model for intergenerational, participatory music-making between younger people and older people. Specifically, instead of giving traditional, non-participatory performances for older people as is commonly done in nursing homes and other elderly institutions, we advocate for engaging seniors in collective music-making and singing. We believe this kind of collective music-making will better meet the rights of older adults to participate in cultural life and will lead to stronger intergenerational relationships.     

Designing an Ageless Social Community: Adapting a New Urbanist Social Core to Suit Baby Boomers in Later Life

ABSTRACT

Since 90% of older adults prefer aging in place (Wang, Shepley, & Rodiek, 2012), it is important that neighborhood design supports successful aging. Beyond basic needs, research indicates quality interaction is associated with positive health and well-being benefits, particularly for older adults. In this, design supporting social relationships plays an essential role. This study's purpose was to identify New Urbanist neighborhood and social space design attributes supporting older residents' physiological and social needs. This case study used keyword-in-context analysis with focus group interview data to identify domains supporting social interaction for residents aging in place including: location factors, social factors, design factors, and programmatic factors.     

Geographic distance and intergenerational relationships in Chinese migrant families

ABSTRACT

This study examines the effect of adult Chinese migrants’ geographic distance from home on their intergenerational relationships with parents who remain behind. We compared monetary and family care support as well as emotional relationships among four parent-child groups: older adults and international migrant children, older adults and internal migrant children (who migrated to other cities in China), older adults and coresiding children, and older adults and local children (living in the same city as their parents). Data were derived from 332 older adults in Beijing, China, with at least one child who migrated to another country or city. Results from chi-square tests, anaylsis of variance (ANOVA) tests, and regression analyses indicate that international and internal migrant children maintain similar intergenerational relationships with their parents, and that both of those groups are less likely than coresiding and local children to have family care exchanges and emotionally close relationships with their parents. The results may help professionals develop supportive services and policies for older adults in migrant families.     

Social capital and disasters: How does social capital shape post-disaster conditions in the Philippines?

ABSTRACT

Social capital is a common feature among disaster-resilient communities. This research aims to define how social capital shapes the post-disaster conditions in the 2011 Typhoon Washi-affected communities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan City in Region 10 Philippines. Qualitative analysis was used in analyzing the data gathered through purposive sampling and semi-structured interviews. Thirty typhoon survivors and 14 focal persons of the government and non-government agencies were chosen based on their active involvement in the community. The findings revealed that the solidarity among typhoon-affected communities contributed to the recovery of the survivors. The findings also highlighted that the solidarity in the typhoon-affected communities is part of the normative structure of the society where bonding and linking social capital are nurtured. Further, the community remains to believe that their respective local officials can be trusted and are capable of helping them in times of need despite the shortcomings during the 2011 Typhoon Washi. We argue that social capital in the community is not easily diminished over a crisis and therefore must be nurtured towards effective community-based disaster resilience mechanisms.