Remember the movie "The Sound of the Music" (1965)? A movie portrayed a young lady tutoring Captain's seven children from age 5 to 16. Imagine if we replaced the young teacher with an aged Julie Andrews; that probably would be the modern version of the "intergenerational program."
What is intergeneration?
Intergeneration is a term for bringing multiple generations together. At large, based on the facility's location, we can categorize the intergenerational program into two operation models:
Co-location model
The co-location intergeneration model means gathering multi-generations under one roof or within the same site. For example, Providence Mount St. Vincent, known as the Mount, is a care facility in West Seattle. Their facility integrates both preschools and nursing homes in one location.
Not all generational programs are offered in a care facility; some intergenerational concepts are expressed in a master-planned community. An example is a Gavilán neighborhood in Rancho Mission Viejo, California. It is planned as an intergenerational community that provides housing for all ages. The young, mature, and retired households share all amenities under one master site.
Visitation model
The visitation model is the most popular intergenerational model. Often, the intergeneration program is part of the learning curriculum, a benefit for the community, or a scheduled activity within a facility.
A handful of the list below are the organizations that offer the intergenerational program:
The Virginian, a retirement community, arrange for young toddlers to visit their memory care units to help their residents who have Alzheimer's.
Merrit Academy, an education institute for infants through eighth grade, partners with a senior living community and brings together students and seniors (also known as grand friends).
Little Tree Hugger, in-home daycare and preschool, and Poet's Walk, a memory care center in Leesburg, gather together for their shared activity: planting flowers.
The intergenerational program also happens on a larger scale. Many local communities offer intergenerational programs to the residents. These programs help increase interactions and exchange talents between generations. See the list of the community below from a report by Generations United. One fascinating thing to mention is that the demographic structure of listed places (Georgetown, TX, Lamoni, IA, and Oberlin, OH) all offer learning opportunities for one minor with almost two seniors.
The table divides the age groups into under 18 and over 60. That is because of the entire years of curriculum public schools offer and the highest full-age seniors can volunteer. The average age for going to college is between 18-19 years old. Many qualified agents and organizations have a volunteer age limit of only 55. However, the Foster Grandparents Program grants to organizations for engaging individuals over 60 years old.
The sketch below summarizes how intergenerational programs could work on the same site or off-site. As you can see from the drawing, both facilities operate on a combination of 6-8 acres of the site. The co-location model in the Mount has 8.7 acres of land, including 21,000 square feet of on-site staff residence. The visitation model between the Poet's Walk and the Little Tree Hugger work on a total of 6.3 acres of land. There is 9 mins driving distance between the two locations.
There is no evidence of how many kids and the elderly connected each time. However, their official information indicates St. Vincent has bound 400 elders with 125 students who attend the ILC. The facility is located in a single family house neighborhood, therefore, children in the neighborhood can also visit the elderly in the facility through their intergeneration program.
This preschool could take up to twelve kids together to visit the memory care facility nearby. With the companion teachers, the visiting group can be accommodated in one nine feet cargo van.
A little throwback on the history of the Foster Grandparents Program
"...in volunteer service to meet critical community needs and to provide a high-quality volunteer experience that will enrich the lives of the volunteers." --- Benefits.gov
The birth of The Foster Grandparents program can trace back to two federal-level initiatives aiming at senior citizens' services and education reform.
In 1965, Congress passed two significant bills: the Older Americans Act (OAA) and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). In the same year, the Foster Grandparents Program was piloted. This program is to match seniors over 60 with children to meet critical community needs. Later in the 1980s, the first lady Nancy Ragan drew awareness to this program and helped it to grow. This program has brought positive impacts to many local communities. According to this report, preschool children involved in intergenerational programs had higher personal and social developmental scores (by 11 months) than preschool children who did not participate.
What's the takeaway
An intergenerational community is not only for gathering all ages together; it is where talents and values from multiple generations integrate into one setting. These ideas are intangible; thus, it is challenging to visualize them in a built environment. In the early planning phase, the best preparation we could do is to observe each age group who will participate in the program. If the program is operated in a visitation model, it is helpful to design a safe and scenic route for visitors and make their routine visits a unique ritual. For programs conducted in a co-location setting, keeping same-age-preferred territories is still crucial.
On the other hand, historically, in certain parts of Asian and American cultures, the extended family was a norm in society. If our lifestyle turns back to the old fashion that three generations (grandparents, parents, and children) all live under one roof, perhaps the intergeneration would be a natural move, and we do not need to strategically "plan" it.
Notes and References:
“Intergenerational programs in NOVA bring seniors and children together- with benefits for both”, Holly Leber Simmons, Northern Virginia Magazine.com
“The Preschool Inside a Nursing Home”, Tiffany Janssen, the Atlantic.
America’s Best Intergenerational Communities, 2012, AARP.org
Video of participants’ testimony about Foster Grandparents Program.
The population information listed in table above is from data.census.gov (accessed 9.13.2022). The "Place" in this article follows the definition of the U.S. Census Bureau. Therefore, in the table, San Diego is considered a "county," and Charlottesville is counted as a "city" in the Census data tables.
A “siheyuan” is an example of multiple generations living under one roof. It is a historical type of residence that was throughout China and some Asia countries. It refers to dwellings surrounding a shared courtyard. An extended family usually occupies it.