Impacts of a primary school-based intergenerational engagement intervention on the cognitive, health and social outcomes of community-residing older adults and on participating schools

  • Anna Krzeczkowska

Student thesis: Doctoral Thesis

Abstract

Intergenerational engagement (IE) interventions can benefit health and wellbeing in an ageing population and lead to a range of benefits in individuals and the larger community. Although potential positive impacts of IE for both older adults and younger generations have been demonstrated and promoted in past research, high quality and conclusive evidence regarding potential positive or negative impacts on older people is still limited. Therefore, this pilot study was conducted to 1) assess the potential impacts of intergenerational engagement on older adults’ cognitive, social and health outcomes over 6 months; 2) explore benefits and challenges associated with intergenerational engagement from the volunteers’, teachers’, and pupils’ perspective; and 3) evaluate perceptions of school climate over time from intervention vs control school staff’s perspective. Generation for Generationis a moderate-intensity, IE intervention designed to promote cognitive, health and social function in older adults while also benefiting schools. Older adult volunteer participants assisted primary school teachers in the classroom byhelping pupils aged 4-8 with reading, writing and numeracy tasks. They were asked to commit eight hours per week for six months during 2018-2020. A mixed-method design including a concurrent nested approach was applied inthis project. The study consisted of 1) a pilot randomised controlled trial (RCT); 2) a qualitative component (a volunteer diary and focus groups); and 3) a pre- and post-intervention school climate survey. The pilot RCT was amixed factorial design in which older adult volunteers (control or active condition) were assessed on three occasions (baseline, then at 3- and 6- month follow-ups). In total, 36 older adults aged 60-80 years were recruitedfrom the Lothians area in Scotland on three occasions and allocated to three cohorts. Overall, older adult intervention participants, but not control participants, showed improvements in working memory, episodic memory,auditory verbal learning, daytime dysfunction (sleep quality domain), crossage attitudes, and generative achievement. Reliable difference in the pattern of outcomes over time tended to be observed at 3 months and maintained at6 months. Thematic analyses of older adults’ diary and focus group data revealed a range of intra- and inter-personal benefits and challenges of IE including regaining a sense of purpose, a sense of belonging, building newsocial connections, physical demands, financial issues, and fear of overstepping. Focus group data from teachers’ and pupils’ focus groups demonstrated additional potential benefits of IE on pupils’ attainment and behaviour, and teaching efficiency. Finally, during the first school year of the intervention, five out of eight sub-domains of school climate (i.e., school satisfaction, parental involvement, creativity and the arts, learning climate, and school resources), as well as overall school climate, were maintained amongst staff in interventions schools, as compared to declines indicated by staff in comparison schools. The quantitative results of this pilot study offer promising, preliminary evidence suggesting that a 6-month, moderateintensity engagement between younger and older generations can be an effective health promotion initiative. In addition, explanatory qualitative findings defined the context of IE and explored experiences of participating in the programme from different perspectives, indicating potential for future implementation and further development of the intervention. However, given the pilot nature of this study, all findings should be treated with caution and re-assessed in the context of a full trial in future.
Date of Award5 Dec 2022
Original languageEnglish
Awarding Institution
  • University Of Strathclyde
SponsorsUniversity of Strathclyde
SupervisorLouise Brown Nicholls (Supervisor) & William McGeown (Supervisor)

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