NINOVATION IN ELDER AND CHILD CARE: AN INTERGENERATIONAL EXPERIENCE

Abstract

Education about aging should be a high priority for all people who work with children, because youth today will live longer than previous generations and their attitudes about growing older and elders are associated positively with intergen‐erational experiences. An observation instrument, interview schedule, and picture test for children were validated and found to be reliable for measuring the attitudes of elders and children toward shared intergenerational activities and experiences as well as the feelings of each age group about the other. Providing for the similar needs of residential elders and day‐care children in the same facility is a new concept that can help meet familial, emotional, social, financial, and societal needs. The Glenwood, a Level III facility in rural Vermont, provides residential care for six elders, day care for preschoolers, and after‐school care for school age children. It is economically profitable at an 80% occupancy rate. A similar facility with additional day care for elders would realize even greater profits. It is recommended that specific regulations and accreditation standards be established by the states for combined elder‐child care facilities because none exist now, and this concept has the potential to be economically profitable as well as to provide opportunities to enhance the quality of life of both elders and children.