Background: Characteristics and effects of intergenerational programs on improving intergenerational attitudes on youth and older adults have yet been reviewed. The present systematic review aimed to synthesise the literary findings on intergenerational programs characteristics involving youth and community-dwelling older adults. Furthermore, the study aimed to review the reported attitudinal outcomes of the targeted intergenerational programs.
Methods: A systematic review across six databases resulted in 8,428 articles, of which only 13 articles met the inclusion criteria. Characteristics of the interventions were summarised. Eight articles were included in the meta-analysis of attitudinal outcomes and a sub-factor analysis on the programs guided by theory and its effects on attitudes was conducted.
Results: Program characteristics varied between session frequency, session duration, activities, structure, and location. Intergenerational programs were found to be effective in improving intergenerational attitudes demonstrating a moderate effect size on youth (d = 0.71, p < .001) and a large effect size for older adults (d = 1.06, p < .001). Use of theory to guide interventions increased the effectiveness of the program by two-fold (d = 0.45, p < .05; d = 1.05, p < .001) for non-theoretically informed and theoretically informed programs respectively.
Conclusions: Approaches used in existing intergenerational programs are diverse. Future intergenerational programs should consider the use of a theoretical framework to assist in program implementation and design to maximise the impact of intergenerational programs in improving attitudes. Future research should consider examining attitudinal outcomes of intergenerational programs for both generational groups to ascertain mutual benefits are gained.