The experiences and perceptions of young people and older people living with dementia of participating in intergenerational programmes: A qualitative evidence synthesis
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: Intergenerational programmes are formal activities bringing different generations together and have been identified as a way to help people living with dementia to stay socially connected. While there is some evidence from individual studies as to their benefits, there is no overall coherent account as to the perceptions and experiences of participants who engage in such programmes. This review synthesises qualitative evidence of the experiences and perceptions of young people and older people living with dementia of participating in such programmes. METHODS: We searched EBSCO CINAHL, OVID Medline, Embase, Ovid PsycINFO, the Web of Science, Epistemonikos and grey literature sources. We used thematic synthesis to analyse and synthesise the evidence in to four themes, with 11 key findings. We assessed our confidence in each of these findings using the GRADE-CERQual (Confidence in the Evidence from Reviews of Qualitative research) approach. FINDINGS: Our review highlights the potential enjoyment for young people and older people living with dementia when participating in Intergenerational programmes, despite some initial trepidation. These programmes provide an opportunity to establish and develop relationships and for young people to learn about dementia, ageing and how to interact with older people living with dementia. However, it is important to have staff facilitators present to provide reassurance to both groups. It is also important to take the personal preferences of participants into account and to be considerate of noise levels and other aspects of programme delivery that may inhibit engagement. CONCLUSION: This is the first qualitative evidence synthesis specifically exploring Intergenerational programmes aimed at older people living with dementia. We provide insights into the perspectives of those who have participated in Intergenerational programmes. It is important to consider these views, together with other evidence of effectiveness, when planning Intergenerational programmes. While our review is limited by a small number of studies from only a few countries, we have moderate to high confidence in our findings. Further research into the development of Intergenerational programmes specifically tailored for people living with dementia is needed. The findings also provide guidance for people planning to deliver or design future Intergenerational programmes.
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Such programs have demonstrated success in dementia patients and aged care facilities.
“Such programs have demonstrated success in dementia patients (Gerritzen et al. 2020; Houghton et al. 2022) and aged care facilities (De Bellis et al. 2022), just to name a few.”
From “If We Don’t Listen to Them, We Make Them Lose More than Money:” Exploring Reasons for Underreporting and the Needs of Older Scam Victims (2023) · cites this paper as Houghton et al. 2022
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- Authors
- Houghton, C., Hennessy, M., Smyth, S., Hennelly, N., Smalle, M., Jordan, F., Jones, C. H., Quinn, M., Casey, D., & Teahan, Á.
- Affiliations
- Ollscoil na Gaillimhe – University of Galway (IE)
- University College Cork (IE)
- School of Medical and Health Sciences, Bangor University, Wales
- Health Service Executive (IE)
- Corresponding author
- Houghton, Catherine
- ORCID
- Venue
- Dementia
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2022-07-09
- Volume
- 21
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 2144-2171
- ISSN
- 1471-3012 (ISSN-L)
- 1741-2684
- PMC
- PMC9483709
- OpenAlex
- W4284964332
- Cited by
- 9
- References
- 32
- Citations by year
- 2025: 4 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 3
- FWCI
- 3.24
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Dementia (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Intergenerational Family Dynamics and Caregiving
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology › Aging and Gerontology Research
- Keywords
- intergenerational programs, youth, older adults, participant experiences, social connectedness, participant preferences, program design, dementia education
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Aged, Dementia, Humans, Qualitative Research
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