Intergenerational Programs Support Development – From Early Childhood to Late Life

Intergenerational programs actively and intentionally engage youth and older adults in shared programming that supports mutual benefit. Examples abound with infants through young adults and older persons of diverse backgrounds, interests, and abilities. This session concentrates on intergenerational programs involving young children and adults of varied abilities. Shannon Jarrott, a long-term scholar of intergenerational programs, will define these programs and highlight recent evidence of their impact on child and adult participants and other stakeholders. She will illustrate diverse needs that are supported by intergenerational programs. Participants will learn how to access resources to establish, offer, and sustain intergenerational programs that meet their needs.

Professor Shannon Jarrott has studied intergenerational relationships ever since she realized that not all young and older people have close intergenerational connections like she and her siblings enjoyed with their “Nanny.” Shannon has worked with childcare centers, adult day services, schools, nursing homes, food banks, and churches interested in youth’s and older adults’ potential to benefit participants and the larger community. These collaborations identified strategies that increase program success, promoting meaningful roles, healthy food access, empathy, resilience, and a sense of purpose for young and older participants. Shannon is a Professor of Social Work at The Ohio State University, Editor of The Journal of Intergenerational Relationships and the Australian Association of Gerontology’s 2023 Gary Andrews International Fellow by the Australian Association of Gerontology.