Older Adult Mentors and Youth at Risk: Challenges for Intergenerational Mentoring Programs in Family-Centered Cultures

Abstract

This article poses some preliminary reflections about the viability of youth mentoring schemes in family-centered cultural contexts based on a pilot experience developed in Spain within the framework of a project aiming to train older adults as youth mentors in five European countries. After an introduction to the field of intergenerational mentoring, a description of the pilot program follows, with special attention paid to the development of the Spanish local project. Drawing on the project evaluation, some open questions are posed regarding (a) the optimal institutional framing for an intergenerational mentoring program and (b) the challenge with social representation of the mentor role.

Keywords:

• mentoring
• older adults
• youth at risk
• intergenerational relationships
• family-centered cultures

Acknowledgments

This research was made with the financial support of the EC, Education and Culture DG, Grundtvig Lifelong Learning Programme. However, the article reflects only the views of its authors, and the European Commission cannot be held responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained herein.