The Perspective of Elderly Residents on an Intergenerational Service-Learning Project

ABSTRACT

With our growing aging population, intergenerational service-learning has been on the rise in recent decades. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the effects of a brief, mutually constructed, intergenerational service-learning program on active older adults (i.e., those who reside independently within the community) of a Housing and Urban Development (HUD) subsidized residential apartment community in an underserved rural region of the U.S. Results indicated positive themes, consisting of feeling listened to, not invisible, and young. In addition, opportunities for life-long development, such as increased intergenerational understanding and generativity, were indicated.

KEYWORDS:

• Service-learning
• aging well
• community learning