Intergenerational (IG) Action Plan

About the project

Better social and mental health for all age groups is important. Communities are better places to live when older people are active and involved. Younger people learn from seniors and appreciate history more. Older people learn to accept and understand how life is for young people. They learn about each other and from each other. Together, they make their community more all-age-friendly. 
 
We believed that bringing older adults together with children and youth could improve health. Many seniors did not have young people in their lives. We trained these people to find ways they could respectfully and meaningfully come together during COVID-19 and after. Our project trained active seniors and young people to get involved with each other in fun and simple ways. We gave workshops to interested New Brunswickers. They learned about intergenerational (IG) relationships and how to get people involved safely. We also shared three written resources that provided information about intergenerational activities and projects. Our project helped individual seniors and young people meet and become friends. As friends, they could invite others to create intergenerational activities and projects in their communities. By sharing their experiences and building friendships, they created communities that included both older and younger people.

Conclusions and lessons learned

  • Overall, participants gained IG skills and awareness from the workshops and felt equipped to support IG activities within the community
  • Participants felt storytelling was an effective tool for building IG understanding, which could help shift ageist attitudes.
  • The project originally intended to host in-person workshops but shifted to a virtual format due to COVID-19 restrictions. The virtual format permitted a larger pool of participants, and the flexibility to add sessions for questions and support.

Recommendations

  • iGAP training should be provided regularly to both seniors and young people to encourage safe, respectful, and meaningful IG activity development and participation
  • Social labs (e.g., NouLab, New Brunswick Social and Public Innovation Lab) should charter coconstruction projects that include seniors and youth.
  • Relevant organizations should promote IG activities, including IG Day.

To learn more read the project findings (PDF 160 KB)