Intergenerational Service Learning within an Aging Course and Its Impact on Undergraduate Students’ Attitudes about Aging

ABSTRACT

Ageism is a term used to describe negative stereotypes and prejudices often leading to the discrimination of older adults. Ageism has been linked to negative outcomes such as a decreased quality of life, discrimination in the workplace, and poorer mental and physical health for older adults. Promoting positive contact experiences between older and younger generations in combination with education about aging has shown to improve attitudes among younger adults toward aging. Using the Positive Education about Aging and Contact Experiences (PEACE) model, this study examined the attitudes toward aging among 23 undergraduate students prior to and upon completion of an intergenerational service learning project, embedded within an aging course. The Fraboni Scale of Ageism (FSA) was used to measure levels of ageism before and after the intergenerational service learning project. The overall mean among the entire sample for the pre-FSA scores (68.86 ± 1.47) was significantly greater than the mean scores on the post-FSA scores (63.13 ± 1.48), t = 5.584, p < .001, demonstrating a significant decrease in ageism scores upon completion of the intergenerational service learning project. Findings validate the utility of intergenerational service learning programs and offers advice on the implementation of evidence-based strategies aimed at reducing ageism among the population.

KEYWORDS:

• Ageism
• older adults
• contact theory
• intergenerational service learning
• attitudes

Declaration of Interest

The author has no conflicts of interest to declare. No funding grants were utilized for this research.