Using a Quasi-Experimental Study to Examine Program Participation and Outcomes for Older Adult Intergenerational Technology Program Participants

ABSTRACT

To extend the literature on participation in intergenerational technology programs, we conducted a quasi-experimental study consisting of senior center participants, half who took part in the University of Rhode Island Engaging Generations Cyber-Seniors (URI eGen Cyber-Seniors) Program and half who did not. Findings showed that both groups were similar on most variables; however participants did have higher education levels and more positive attitudes toward younger people. We also examined if older adult program participants improved scores on social and technological measures compared to the control group, and we found participants improved on technology use, digital competence, loneliness, and doing unpaid community service measures but not the non-participants.

KEYWORDS:

• Intergenerational technology program
• quasi-experimental design
• senior centers
• social isolation
• loneliness
• social engagement
• digital competence

Acknowledgments

We acknowledge the contributions of Jennifer Ghelarducci who aided with the data collection efforts for this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

A University of Rhode Island, College of Health Sciences (CHS) grant enabled us to provide incentives to all participants.