How can we innovate intergenerational practice research?
Intergenerational interactions in community programmes, and wider society, are undergoing considerable change as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The way we research these interactions also needs to adapt. Taking a more holistic approach, which embraces complexity and positively frames multi-generational dependency is one way forward.
What it means to be vulnerable is being redefined. Vulnerabilities to illness run in parallel to economic vulnerabilities and the risks of social isolation, loneliness and bereavement. Matched to generational experiences, commentators have recognised the significant cost of the virus to the lives of older generations and to the livelihoods of younger generations. Yet, this generationally compartmentalised view of vulnerability misses the positive responses materialising as a consequence of dependency across all ages.
Understanding dependency, and vulnerability, as positive opportunities to connect and support one another within this current context opens up possibilities for considering these terms as constructive within intergenerational relationships.
In a multi-method qualitative research project exploring an intergenerational programme involving preschool children and people living with dementia, which I conducted in 2019, reciprocal dependency between these ‘vulnerable’ groups encouraged stronger intergenerational connection.
Focused on the experience and potential benefits for the preschool children, findings revealed the positive contributions made by these groups to intergenerational interaction. Rather than the vulnerability of the participants hindering connection, the research suggested that the intergenerational programme may produce potentially unique benefits for preschool children because the interaction with people living with dementia was not reliant on verbal communication, which is often characteristic of other relationships with adults. As one staff member in the study noted:
“I feel there was a lot that she was learning because she was watching him draw and she was learning to interact with him without talking, rather than just shutting down because sometimes she can just freeze. And she was getting the cues from him, once he had drawn, she then drew a picture of herself”(Amy, staff)
Instead, both the preschool children and people living with dementia were involved in reciprocal activities and the giving and receiving of informal forms of care.
The idea that each generation may simultaneously be cared for and give care to others became central to understanding the intergenerational interactions. Mediated by staff, gifts such as children’s drawings or sweet treats were exchanged between the preschool children and residents, revealing the programme’s capacity for fostering caring relationships between the generations. As Isabel explains:
“I would say June [is my favourite] because she gives us all the sweeties and is really kind.”(Isabel, child).
These activities and informal forms of care centred around objects. As a result, they are somewhat comparable to the current intergenerational interaction happening in communities. Food and medication deliveries, home-sewn facemasks, online games and communication technologies, to name but a few examples, have become central to localised and intergenerational support. This aspect of intergenerational practice, involving facilitatory staff, activities or objects, is often neglected by current research focused on programme outcomes or age-specific experiences.
Although this particular research project reflected this outcome-oriented and age-specific approach, it also revealed the need to embrace the complexity of intergenerational interaction. This programme highlighted the need for future research to conceive of dependency as a multi-generational and potentially positive attribute of intergenerational interaction.
Building upon these insights, my current PhD study attempts to explore the processes occurring within intergenerational interaction. Adopting a multi-generational and holistic approach attempts to innovate and adapt how we research these practices.
As intergenerational interactions within communities and programmes change due to COVID-19 restrictions and become increasingly orientated around connecting through activities, objects and online forms of communication, adapting the ways intergenerational interactions are researched will become increasingly necessary.
I welcome any comments or ideas about how we can innovate intergenerational practice research, especially in light of the changing circumstances and altered nature of intergenerational interaction.
I also welcome any interest in my research or future research projects. Please feel free to contribute to this forum.
Lois Peach, Postgraduate Researcher (PhD student) at the University of Bristol.
How can we innovate intergenerational practice research?
Intergenerational interactions in community programmes, and wider society, are undergoing considerable change as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The way we research these interactions also needs to adapt. Taking a more holistic approach, which embraces complexity and positively frames multi-generational dependency is one way forward.
What it means to be vulnerable is being redefined. Vulnerabilities to illness run in parallel to economic vulnerabilities and the risks of social isolation, loneliness and bereavement. Matched to generational experiences, commentators have recognised the significant cost of the virus to the lives of older generations and to the livelihoods of younger generations. Yet, this generationally compartmentalised view of vulnerability misses the positive responses materialising as a consequence of dependency across all ages.
Understanding dependency, and vulnerability, as positive opportunities to connect and support one another within this current context opens up possibilities for considering these terms as constructive within intergenerational relationships.
In a multi-method qualitative research project exploring an intergenerational programme involving preschool children and people living with dementia, which I conducted in 2019, reciprocal dependency between these ‘vulnerable’ groups encouraged stronger intergenerational connection.
Focused on the experience and potential benefits for the preschool children, findings revealed the positive contributions made by these groups to intergenerational interaction. Rather than the vulnerability of the participants hindering connection, the research suggested that the intergenerational programme may produce potentially unique benefits for preschool children because the interaction with people living with dementia was not reliant on verbal communication, which is often characteristic of other relationships with adults. As one staff member in the study noted:
“I feel there was a lot that she was learning because she was watching him draw and she was learning to interact with him without talking, rather than just shutting down because sometimes she can just freeze. And she was getting the cues from him, once he had drawn, she then drew a picture of herself” (Amy, staff)
Instead, both the preschool children and people living with dementia were involved in reciprocal activities and the giving and receiving of informal forms of care.
The idea that each generation may simultaneously be cared for and give care to others became central to understanding the intergenerational interactions. Mediated by staff, gifts such as children’s drawings or sweet treats were exchanged between the preschool children and residents, revealing the programme’s capacity for fostering caring relationships between the generations. As Isabel explains:
“I would say June [is my favourite] because she gives us all the sweeties and is really kind.” (Isabel, child).
These activities and informal forms of care centred around objects. As a result, they are somewhat comparable to the current intergenerational interaction happening in communities. Food and medication deliveries, home-sewn facemasks, online games and communication technologies, to name but a few examples, have become central to localised and intergenerational support. This aspect of intergenerational practice, involving facilitatory staff, activities or objects, is often neglected by current research focused on programme outcomes or age-specific experiences.
Although this particular research project reflected this outcome-oriented and age-specific approach, it also revealed the need to embrace the complexity of intergenerational interaction. This programme highlighted the need for future research to conceive of dependency as a multi-generational and potentially positive attribute of intergenerational interaction.
Building upon these insights, my current PhD study attempts to explore the processes occurring within intergenerational interaction. Adopting a multi-generational and holistic approach attempts to innovate and adapt how we research these practices.
As intergenerational interactions within communities and programmes change due to COVID-19 restrictions and become increasingly orientated around connecting through activities, objects and online forms of communication, adapting the ways intergenerational interactions are researched will become increasingly necessary.
I welcome any comments or ideas about how we can innovate intergenerational practice research, especially in light of the changing circumstances and altered nature of intergenerational interaction.
I also welcome any interest in my research or future research projects. Please feel free to contribute to this forum.
Lois Peach, Postgraduate Researcher (PhD student) at the University of Bristol.