The Impact of Short-Term QualityIntergenerational Contact on Children's

Attitudes Toward Older Adults

Patricia Osborne HannonSarah Hall Gueldtier

ABSTRACT. This article describes a research study desigtied to inves-tigate the inlluencc ol short tertii quality intergenerational contact on theattitudes ol" children toward older adults. Glass and Trent's (1982)Typology of Approaches to change attitudes and Atnir's (1969) ContactHypothesis guided the developtnent of this study. Glass and Trent re-ported that there are three pritnary ways that attitudes change: throughdiscussion with others about the attitudinal object, direct experienceswith attitudinal objects, and the acquisition of more knowledge aboutthe atlitudinal object. II attitudes are a rctlection of internal and externalinfluences, then it is assumed they can change.

The study revealed that children who participated in the treattnent hada more positive attitude toward older adults. Both inclusion in theintergenerational activities and time spent with related older adults weresignificant in explaining the changes in the children's attitudes towardolder adults. doi:10.1300/J194v05n04_05 {Anide copies available for a feefrom The Hanonh DiKument Deliveiy St-ivice: l-800-HAWORTH. E-nmil iuidress:<docdelivery@ha\soiihpress.com> Website: <http://www.HaworihPress. com>© 2007 by The Haworth Press. All rights reserved.]

Patricia Osbonie Hannon, PhD. APRN-BC CNE. is alTiiiated with East SuoudshurgUniversity.

Sarah Hall Gueldner, DSN, EAAN, is affiliated with Binghamton University.Address correspondence to: Patricia Hannon. East Stroudsburg University. 200

Prospect Street. East Stroudsburg, PA 18201 (E-Mail: poh2029(2> aol.com).

Joumal of Intergenerational Relationships. Vol. 5(4) 2007Available online at http://jir.haworthpress.com

© 2007 by The Haworth Press. All rights reserved.doi:10.1300/J194v05n(M 05 59

60 JOURNAL OF INTERGENERATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS

KEYWORDS. Quality cotitact, intergenerational programtning, chil-dren's attitudes

INTRODUCTION

Inct^asitig the quality atid amount of contact between older personsand children has many potential benefits for both individuals and societyat large. Several studies have provided convincing evidence that in-creased integration of generations can produce beneficial outcomes(Bales, Ekiund & Siffm, 2000; Chen, 1997; Dailmann & Power, 1997).The practical benefits include utilizing the skills of older adults to care forchildren as well as tapping into the energy and time of younger people toassist in the care of older adults. In addition, there are many intangiblebenefits such as companionship and the mutual exchange of affection andinformation. The puipose of this paper is to report the findings of a studythat examined children's attitudes toward the elderly and the impact ofquality contact with older people on the children's attitudes.

There is a relatively large body of literature confirming that childrentend to have negative views of older persons. Those views appear to belargely rooted in attitudes held by the larger society (Dallman & Power,1997; Schartz & Simon. 2001). Research also indicates that stereotypesare developed early and remain influential throughout life (McTavish,1971; Aday, Sims. & Evans. 1991; Chapman & Neal, 1990, Schwal-bach & Kienan, 2002). Historically, researchers have assumed that bychanging attitudes, they could alter behaviors, improve social relationsand consequently produce social change. Findings of the study reportedherein generally support the previous work of intergenerational re-searchers (Cummings, Kroph, & DeWeaver, 2000; Dellmann-Jenkins.2000;, Pinquart & Wenzel, 2000; Aday, Sims, & Evans, 1996) that pro-grams which foster structured intergenerational exchanges can have abeneficial impact on children's perceptions and held beliefs about olderpersons. These findings hold implications for nursing, education, socialwork as well as for other disciplines.

CHANGING CHILDREN S ATTITUDES TOWARD ELDERS:LITERA TURE REVIEW

The literature relating to changing children's attitudes toward eldersincludes the de.scription of a number of approaches designed to achieve

Research 61

that goal. For example, one approach which is described is throughcomtnon interests such as tnusic (Darrow, Johnson, & OUenberger,1994). The approaches include providing opportunities for interactionas weli as direct experience and increased knowledge about the attitu-dinal object (older adults). An assumption of this approach is that atti-tudes are learned and are therefore, influenced by experience.Although attitudes which are developed from direct contact seem to bemore intense and effective, surprisingly, only a stnall pot tion of atti-tudes are formed in this fashion. Most attitudes are learned indirectlythrough family, friends, and significant others (Dellmann-Jenkins,1997; Schwalbach & Kieman, 2002).

Empirical evidence suggests that children's familiarity with olderpersons reduces susceptibility to ageist attitudes. Direct contact witholder adults has been ptoposed by Newman and others as a way to ad-dress ageist attitudes. In Newman, Fuux and Latitner's (1997) study ofseventy-one fourth and fifth graders, the children seemed to understandthe complexity of the aging process and the feelings accompanying the"unpleasant conditions" associated with aging. Newman and her col-leagues noted that when children were asked their opinion in anopen-ended way, one-third had positive views of elders, and one-halfhad neutral opinions. •

Studies of intergenerational contact are limited and have usuallybeen reported in quantitative terms, natnely frequency and duration(Knox, Gekoski, & Johnson, 1986). However, Knox and Glass (1982)demonstrated that the quality of contact is as itnportant as the quantity.Increasing the amount of contact among generations has been suggestedas a way to increase the understanding ofthe aging process and associ-ate it more with positive attitudes (Chapman & Neal, 1990). A numberof studies support the idea that intimate contact with the elderly lessensdistance felt by younger persons toward older persons (Aday, Sims,McDulTie, & Evans, 1996; Chapman & Neal, 1990; Corbin et al.,1987).

Numerous authors (Sheehan, 1978; Caspi, 1984; Chapman & Neal,1990; Knox, et al., 1986; Pettigrew, 1998) have different definitions ofquality contact. Sheehan (1978) was the first researcher to quantifywhat ftequeney of contact means but Scbwartz and Simon (2001) arethe only investigators who measured the quality of contact. Their studyconfirmed that participants' self-reported quality of contact with olderindividuals, not the frequency, had the tnost significant effect on theirsubsequent attitudes toward the elderly.

62 JOURNAL OF INTERGENERATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS

Some research on intergenerational programs have assisted cbildrenin developing a more realistic understanding of aging, replacing nega-tive attitudes toward tbe elderly witb more positive ones (^Caspi, 1984;Couper et al., 1991; Delhnan-Jenkins, 1997; Scbwalbach & Kiernan,2002). Studies testing the effect of intergenerational programs have var-ied in methodology. For example, programs have varied from a one day.Five-hour workshop (Couper et al., 1991), to a one week, one bour a dayschedule (Chowdbary et al., 2000; Corbin et al., 1987), to contact once amonth within the context of a nine month school year (Aday et al.,1991). Sample size and instruments utilized bave varied as well. Directexperience witb older adults in controlled settings appears to be moreeffective in changing attitudes than doled information or discussions onattittides and facts about aging (Murpby-Russell, Die, & Walker, 1986).A number oftbe studies (Aday, 1991; Couper etal., !991;Caspi, 1984;Scbartz & Simmons, 2001) wbicb used Amir's (1969) hypothesis of fa-vorable conditions bave reported a positive change in children's atti-tudes toward adults. Amir (1969) noted some basic premises forchanging attitudes: namely, contact is intimate, not casual; members ofboth groups should be of equal status; contact is pleasant; and thatmembers of both groups develop common goals.

RESEARCH METHOD

Population

The study reported here used a randomized experimental designwhich incorporated Amir's basic premises (see above) in a nine-bourintergenerational program across a tbree to four week period. Tbe fullstudy included 67 cbildren and 17 older adults.

Participants for the full study were recruited from the summer campand tbe senior group of a YMCA in northeastern Pennsylvania. Thesample was drawn from those children wbo met tbe study criteria (TableI) and divided randomly by coin toss into control and treatment groups.Tbe initial study design called for a sample of 96 cbildren involved fornine days over a three week period. Due to summer plans which inter-sected the nine day research requirement, more than half tbe parents de-clined to sign the consent. Make up days were scheduled wbicb broughtthe .sample up to its eventual number (n = 67). The sixty-seven cbildrenwbo participated ranged in age from 6-12 years of age. They included amajority of white (78%) females (54%) who were bealtby and free of

Research 63

TABLE 1. Inclusion Criteria for Cbildren of Full Study

1. Male or female six to twelve years of age

2. Able to speak and understaDd English

3. Willing to participate in nine hours ofliitergenerational Programming

4. Willing to be videotaped during programming

physical disabilities. The seventeen older participants were primarilywhite females with a college education. Tbeir ages ranged from 65-97years (Table 2).

MEASUREMENT INSTRUMENTS

Two instruments were used: Polizzi's Revised Version of tbe Seman-tic Differential and an investigator-developed questionnaire which in-cluded selected segments from Newman's Children's Views of Aging(Newman & Marks, 1997). A pilot study was conducted at a differentlocation using 15% of the total study subjects (n = 16 children and n =10 older adults). Prior to the pilot test, the investigator tested Polizzi'sAging Semantic (Polizzi, 2003) on a sample often (10) six to twelveyear old children to determine the children's familiarity witb words.The cbildren were given a written list of paired descriptive words (e.g.cheeiful/crabby, pleasant/unpleasant; friendly/unfriendly) accompa-nied by a seven point scale with an "n" for neutral in the middle. Thechildren were asked to place a ebeek mark along tbe scale that best de-scribed an older adult. Three of the paired words proved unfamiliar totbe children. Polizzi suggested that the three words be dropped based onthe rationale that the reliabllily of the tool is so strong that up to ten pairscould be dropped witb no impact on tbe psychometrics of theinstrument.

A focus group with tbe cbildren who participated in the study wasused to gain feedback on tbe instruments and their participation in tbestudy at large. The children overwhelmingly found tbat the investiga-tor-developed questionnaire was too long and required more time. Itwas also observed that small group activities held the children's interest

64 JOURNAL OE INTERGENERA TIONAL RELATIONSHIPS

TABLE 2. Demographics of Children and Older Adults in Full Study

Age

Group

6-7

8-9

10-11

12

Total

65-75

76-86

87-97

Total

Frequency

21(31%)

13(19%)

16(24%)

17(25%)

67(100%

7 (41%)

6 (35%)

4 (24%)

17(100%

Sex

M

F

M

F

Frequency

31 (46%)

36(54%)

5 (29%)

12(71%)

Hthnicity

African

Asian

Caucasian

Hispanic

Caucasian

Hispanic

Other

Frequency

6 (9%)

2(3)

52 (76%)

7(11%)

67(100%

15(88)

1 (6%)

1 (1%)

Education

Graduate

College

H.S,

Trade

Frequency

5 (29%)

2(12%)

6 (35%)

4 ((24%)

17(100%

longer. Modifications were made to the study based on the informationgathered in the focus group.

METHODOLOGY

As Schwartz and Simons (2001) demonstrated, quality of contact isthe essential condition under which positive attitudes develop. Thisfinding is important because it may explain why contact with olderadults under less favorable conditions has had no effect or may evenhave intensified negative stereotypes. Eddy (1986) has shown thai nurs-ing students who work mostly with sick elderly have developed andmaintain negative attitudes toward the elderly unless they also have in-teracted with members of this age group under favorable conditions.The study reported here did not assume built-in control over the rela-tional contact the children may have had in the past (e.g. family mem-

Research SS

bers). It merely aimed to systematically increase tbe intimate contactthey bad with nonrelational eiders.

Tbe subjects participated in nine hours of intergenerational contactover a four week period. Tbe procedures of the intergenerational pro-gram, also called manualized interventions, provided (he activities forthe intergenerational contact. Introductory activities, small group bond-ing activities, and journal writing intended to establish greater rapportbetween the children and tbe older adults, as well as small group discus-sions were implemented. The small group activities addressed casual toincreasingly more intimate topics as noted in Table 3.

To measure tbe degree to whicb the nine-bour intervention affectedtbe children's attitudes toward the older adults, ten open-ended ques-tions were asked as part of a investigator-developed pre-questionnairewith seven of tbe questions being asked again as part of a post-treatmentquestionnaire (Table 4).

Each child's attitude was measured by tbeir composite scores onPolizzi'-'i Semantic Differential and the semantic differential section ofNewman's Children's View on Aging. The tbirty-two items weresummed for an overall attitude score. Tbe children's post attitude scoreswere examined using analysis of covariance and adjusting for thepre-test attitude scores.

The qualitative data obtained from the ten questions listed in Table 4were analyzed by grouping tbe data from questions 1,4, 5, 6 into cate-gories of "physical changes, mental changes, personality changes, andindicators of old age." Data for question two were categorized into"types of community service" and data for questions 7, 8, 9, 10 werecategorized in tbe grouping "self-perception of old age." The data fromthe post treatment questionnaire, "How has your attitude toward olderadults changed as a result of spending time in tbe YMCA program?"were defined by tbe categories "treatment made a difference" and"treatment did not make a difference."

Multiple regression analysis was applied with selected demographicindependent variables (age, gender, quality of contact, frequency ofcontact with related older adults, frequency of contact with non-relatedolder adults) and with tbe dependent variable (attitude scores of the chil-dren). Prior to using regression analysis, the data were examined to as-sess whether or not the requirements for using tbis methodology weresatisfied. The dependent variable, youtb attitude values at the comple-tion of tbe study, was examined for normality across the two treatmentlevels. Tbe SPSS Explore program analysis revealed the existence ofoutliers wbich contributed to skewed distributions. The outliers witb

66 JOURNAL OF INTERGENERATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS

TABLE 3. Intergenerational Program: Manualized Interventions for SmallGroup Discussions

Day

I

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Large Circle Activities

Name Game: Repeat Name

with Ball

Name Game with Happiest

Day of your life

Name Game with greatest

fear

Name Game with Slressor

Name Game with Ethnicity

Name Game with seif-

characteristic

Name Game with one area

of self improvement

Name Game with one bias

Name Game with Loss or

Sadness

Small Circle Activities

2 Truths and a Lie: Adult

paired with 2 children

Gum Drop Game:

Depending on color, tell

something about family.

vacation, etc.

Concentric Circles: share

childhood memories

Triads: Problem-Spive

Stressor

Triads: Discuss implications

of ethnicity

Triads: Self Assessments

Triads: Jelly Bean Game:

same as Gum Drop Game

Triads with 3 Wishes Game

Triads with Ways to Cope

with Loss or Sadness

Research ' • 67

TABLE 4. Ten Open-ended Questions: Children's Views about Older People

The following questions ask you to think about becoming an old person. For most of

these questions you will just need to write a few words, [f you have any questions raise

your hand. There is no right or wrong answer. Please answer eveiy question.

, List 5 words that best describe "older adults". If asked what age was an older

adult, the response was "over sixty tlve years old".

2, What can older people do for you or the town in which you live?

3, Any additional comments?

4. How can you tell when people are growing older?

5, How do you think it feels to be an old person?

6, What do you think happens when you get to be an old person?

Now imagine you are an old person

7. What do you think you will be like when you are old?

8. How do you think you will feel when you are old?

9, What do you think you will do when you are old?

10, How do you think the oldest person you know feels to be old?

IQR values greater than 1.5 from the median were removed resulting ina normal distribution for the dependent variable. First order interactionterms were created for "treatment and gender" and "treatment and age"for inclusion in the analysis.

Hypothesis

Short term, quality contact has a positive influence on children's atti-tudes toward older adults.

68 JOURNAL OF INTERGENERATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. What is the difference in children's attitudes toward older adultsafter a nine hour intergenerational program which includes qualitycontact with older adults?

2. Do certain demographic variables moderate the impact of inter-generational contact on children's attitudes towai'd older adults?

FINDINGS

Quantitative Findings

The range for the summated scores from Polizzi \s Semantic Differen-tial and the semantic differential section of Newman \s Children's Viewson Aging was 32 to 160. Scoies closer to 32 reflect higher positive atti-tudes, but any total score of less than 128 indicates a positive attitudinalscore. For example, a child who scored 45 would have a more positiveattitude than a child who scored 145. There was a small absolute differ-ence between the groups on the pretest (treatment = 56 and control = 59)attitude survey. The post-test attitude score was, therefore, adjusted us-ing analysis of covariance. When adjusting the post-test attitude scoresusing the pretest, the treatment group had significantly more positive at-titudes (mean = 52.84) than the control group (mean = 62.86). Aone-way ANOVA revealed a significant post-treatment difference inthe mean scores ofthe children's' attitudes toward older adults betweenthe treatment group and the control group (F = 4.93, p = .030). Specifi-cally, the treatment group was found to have more positive post-treat-ment attitudes toward older adults (X = 53.54; SD = 17.68), whencompared to the control group (X = 63.47; SD = 21.93). The treatmentgroup mean of 53.54 reflects a more positive attitude, whereas thecomparison group mean of 63.47 equates with a less positive perceptionofthe elderly.

A fully saturated multiple regression analysis was used to determinethe extent to which the independent variable (short term qualityintergenerational contact) collectively explained the variance in the de-pendent variable (children's attitude toward older adults) (Huck, 2000).Since none ofthe first order interaction terms is statistically significatit(p > .05) the regression analysis (Table 5) only includes the independentvariables that were noted as significant in the literature.

Research 69

TABLE 5, Summary of Fully Saturated Regression Model with Posttest AttitudeValues Regressed on Selected Independent Variables

Variable

Con si ant

Time Spent With

Related Older Adults

Time Spent Wilh

Non-related Older Adults

Age

Quality of Time Speni

With Older Adults

Gender of Youth

Treatment Group

B

36.87

10,39

-4,133

6,64

-,70

-,02

10.47

S.E.n

9.99

4.92

6.62

4,91

6,07

5,08

4.84

Beta

—

.26

-,0S

.17

-.02

<,01

.26

Sig.

<,001

.039

,535

,181

,908

,997

.034

Using Huck (2000), the fully saturated model with independent vari-ables approached but did not achieve statistical significance (p = .065).Since none of the independent variables entered into this initial regres-sion equation were significant at the .05 alpha level, a reduced or moreparsimonious model was developed in Table 6. Taking these adjust-ments into account, the final regression analysis reveals that two vari-ables, self-reported time spent with older adults and treatment group,were statistically significant predictors of posttest attitude scores (F =5.42, df = 2/63, p = .007, R̂ = .147).

Specifically, time spent with older adults explained 8.6% of the vari-ance in posttest attitude values, and 6.1% of the variance in attitude val-ues was explained by the variable treatment group. The two variableshad similar infiuence in explaining variance in the dependent variables.

DISCUSSION

Since only a small percentage ofthe variance (15%) was explainedby this treatment, the findings would seem to merit further study. As

70 JOURNAL OF INTERGENERATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS

TABLE 6. Summary of Reduced Regression Model with Posttest Attitude Val-ues Regressed on Significant Independent Variables

Variuble

ConstanI

Time Spend with Related

Older Adulls

Treatment Group

B

36.82

10,67

10,01

S.E.D

7.63

4.75

4.73

Betu

,26

,25

Sig

<,0OI

,028

,038

noted previously, the children were recruited by simply asking if theywould like to spend some of their camp time in activities with olderadults. A logical assumption is that the very act of volunteering to be ina study suggests that the participants' attitudes toward older adults werealready positive. This possibility was verified by the results ofthe preand post tests of all the children. A more diverse sample, including allthe students in the fourth, fifth and sixth grades, and a more"child-friendly" tool could possibly produce more significant results.

The treatment group may have acquired a more realistic perceptionof older adults during the quality interaction with them, at least in regardto the older adults' physical condition. For example, while the controlgroup also spent considerable time with the older adults, that time wasspent in activities that were simply for fun, like the introductory games,singing, journaling, and having snacks. The control group did not par-ticipate in the small, intimate discussion groups where the children andolder aduits shared personal information. Therefore, the time of per-sonal sharing experienced only by the treatment group was crucial to theeffectiveness ofthe intervention.

The children in the treatment group grew to know the older adultsbetter through the sharing experience and consequently were less likelyto equate physical limitations with mental disabilities. One measure of aculture's survival is how its traditions are passed on from one genera-tion to the next (Kaplan, 1994). The children's responses affirm thatchildren see older adults as persons who pass on the culture of theircommunity. Approximately 257r of the treatment group and approxi-mately 8% of the control answered the community service question,"What can older people do for you or the town in which you live?" withthe response that older people can provide value to society by teachingor telling about their past.

Research 71

The two categories that had the most notable difference in perceptionwere "community service" and "whether or not treatment made a differ-ence" A significant difference (p = .05) was found between the treat-ment and the control groups in terms of whether they thought theactivities with the older adults had made a difference in their attitudes.For the control group, 51.289r of the children responded that the activi-ties with the older adults made no difference in their attitudes towardthem, whereas 6.98% in the treatment groups responded similarly. Forthe control group, only 25.64% of the children re.sponded that the treat-ment made a difference, whereas 58.14% of the children in the treat-ment group responded that the treatment did in fact make a difference intheir attitudes toward older adults (Figure 1). While drawing conclu-sions from one item needs to be done with caution, differences betweenthe responses of the treatment and control groups to this question

FIGURE 1. Impact of Treatment on Children Attitudes toward Older Adults

60

50

40

30

20

10-

0

58.14

NoDifference

Made aDifference

D Treatment D Control

72 JOURNAL OF INTERGENERATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS

Strongly suggest that the treatment altered the children's attitudestoward older adults.

The quantitative results clearly support previous research fmdingsthat suggest programs which foster structured intergenerational ex-changes can have a beneficial impact on children's perceptions and heldbeliefs about older persons (Cummings, Kroph, & DeWeaver, 2000;Aday et al., 1996; Pinquart & Wenzel, 2000).

The difference between this study and previous studies is the focuson quality of contact. The study was also unique because the interven-tion was shorter in duration (nine hours over three weeks) than in mostof the other reported studies. Thus this study demonstrates thatintergenerational initiatives developed over a short period of time canproduce positive effects. The findings of this study also suggest thatgrade school children involved in community projects with older adultsfor a short period of time would significantly change their own atti-tudes. The seniors who participated in the study report that the childrenat the YMCA now corne up to them and hug them on a regular basiswhereas prior to the research project, the two groups had little contact.

STUDY LIMITATIONS

Although this study did provide support for the beneficial effect ofshort term quality intergenerational contact on the attitudes of childrentoward older people, several important limitations to the study need tobe noted.

i. Sample Size: The intended sample size of 96 children splitevenly between the treatment and control groups was not ob-tained. As a result of the logistical and scheduling issues de-scribed above, the actual sample was much smaller (n = 67).

ii. Re.sponse Bias: The children's ability to respond honestly mayhave been obstructed by their increasingly friendly relationshipwith the researcher. The children may have responded more neg-atively on tbeir post survey if the researcher had not also beenthe visible facilitator. Response bias may have occurred becausethe older people assisted the children with the post surveys. Ifthis bias occurred, it would have been present across botbgroups, however and is unlikely to have influenced the overallbetween-group fmdings.

Research 73

iii. Study Instruments: Although the semantic differential scale usedto measure children's attitudes was piloted and the wording sub-sequently changed, some additional words may not have beenfully understood by the children. In addition, the investiga-tor-developed questionnaire used to capture the children's quali-tative response may have been too long despite its having beenshortened from its original form.

iv. Longitudinal Re.sults: The study protocol did not include followup measures to test the stability of the children's attitudes overtime.

V. inability to Generalize: The limitations imposed by the homoge-neity of the children who participated in the study (i.e. majorityof Caucasian females of middle socioeconomic status) makes itdifficult to generalize the findings from this study. The homoge-neity of the population also makes it difficult to answer the sec-ond research question regarding demographic characteristics.

CONCLUSIONS

The following three findings support the study hypothesis, i.e.. Shortterm, quality contact has a positive influence on children's attitudes to-ward older adults.

1. Children who participated in the nine hours of quality intergen-erational contact with older adults had significantly more positivescores on the attitudinal survey than did the children who did notparticipate in the treatment group. The change in the children's atti-tudes appears to be directly related to their participation in the smallpersonalized group activities (i.e. higher quality interaction).

2. Time spent with relational older adults and participation in ninehours of quality contact with older adults explained the varianceof children's attitudes toward older adults.

3. Children's attitudes did not seem to vary based on age, gender,time .spent with nonrelated older adults, or the quality of that time.

IMPLICATIONS

Aside from the implication that in general, bringing children andolder adults together to share quality time is a positive thing, this study

74 JOURNAL OF INTERGENERATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS

has some specific implications for programming. The children andolder adults in this study as well as staff members of the YMCA have allrequested at various times that the program be continued on an annualbasi.s. The program eould be expanded to a variety of summer programs,eamps, and senior centers and nursing homes and could include a widevariety of other activities not included in this study.

Research into intergenerational programs has illustrated how the par-ticipants contribute to each other's lives (Kaplan, 2002). The presentstudy emphasized how quality intergenerational contact using music,story telling and journaling established rapport between the generationsand could be used as a precursor to other, more extensive inter-generational initiatives.

The study findings support the use of seniors as a resource to help ad-dress the unmet needs of children in the community. Intergenerationalapproaches have been found to contribute to desirable changes in com-munities, such as increased safety, healthier environments, and im-proved recreational facilities (Generations United, 2002). In addition tobenefiting the community, quality intergenerational initiatives benefitthe participants by teaching youth and seniors about the contributionsthey can make to society. Participants feel valued, empowered, andsocially engaged.

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Subtnitted: 07/15/05Revised: 05/02/06

Accepted: 10/11/06

doi:10.1300/J194v05n04 05