2014 Volume 8 Issue 1 Pages 14-22
This study examined the effects of short-term intergenerational program on elementary school children’s perception of the elderly.
The senior volunteers instructed the 6th grade elementary school students how to read picture books to other students in seven periods of integrated study. The students were 84 boys and girls of an elementary school in Kawasaki.
We used the SD（Semantic Differential）method for the survey of children’s perception of the elderly and conducted the same survey before and after intervention. Also, we used factor analysis and extracted two factors, which were 6 items in subscale for “evaluation” and 3 items for “potency / activity”. Moreover, we used analysis of variance for means of two factors and 9 items. The results of the analysis of variance showed that the means of SD scores which were 3 items for “potency / activity” and one item for “weak - strong” were significantly improved after intervention.
This short-term intergenerational program showed that it can be effective for improving the perception of the elderly on the elementary school students. Although an intergenerational program should be regular and continuous in order to expect any effects, this study suggests that a short-term program might also have some effects.
