The first of its kind in the United States, from 1990 to 1995, The Stride Rite Intergenerational Day Care Center offered an innovative program that addressed the care needs of both young children and elders in the same setting. By design, this employer-sponsored on-site intergenerational day care center met the physical, social and intellectual needs of each group through a planned and supervised curriculum, that fostered regular, planned interactions between the young children and the elders. The purpose of this case study was to assess the positive and negative attitudes of twenty preschoolers at the day care center, toward the elderly participants and toward their own aging; and to identify attitude differences, if any, between the two groups of preschoolers. By examining the program's features and qualities, this study also attempted to identify some of variables that influenced these attitudes. A qualitative and quantitative methodology was used. Interviews, field notes, The Parent Survey Questionnaire and The Children's Attitudes Toward the Elderly (The CATE), provided appropriate data. Twenty preschoolers, (ten 4-year-olds and ten 5-year-olds), were the subjects in this study. Other participants included, (6) elders, (2) teachers, (1) elder activity coordinator, (4) administrators and (20) parents. The results of the study indicated that the preschoolers had mixed attitudes toward the elderly and their own aging. The quantitative findings from The Children's Attitudes Toward the Elderly (The CATE), indicated that the 4- and 5-year-olds did not know very much about the elderly. In addition, the majority of the 4- and 5-year-olds indicated less than positive feelings about the elderly and getting old. There was however, a significant association between age and how the preschoolers felt about getting old. The results showed that the 5-year-olds felt more positive than the 4-year-olds about getting old. Additionally, both the 4- and 5-year-olds expressed positive affective feelings toward the elderly, but had negative attitudes about the physical aspects associated with the elderly. The qualitative findings were also mixed The 4- and 5-year-olds demonstrated positive attitudes toward the elders who were active and engaging. Some 5-year-olds indicated that they enjoyed being helped by the elders, and that they also enjoyed doing helpful things for them. However if the elders were not active, the 4- and 5-year-olds shied away from them. Both 4- and 5-year-olds reported that they were afraid of the elders who did not talk to them. Furthermore, the findings also indicated that with the exception of death, some of the 4- and 5-year-olds had positive feelings toward the elderly. Further evidence indicated that at times, some 5-year-olds no longer saw the elders as “the Old People,” but as friends. The study findings also indicated that the Intergenerational Day Care Program at Stride Rite was valued by the elders, parents and the care providers.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UMASS/oai:scholarworks.umass.edu:dissertations-2002 |
| Date | 01 January 2001 |
| Creators | White, Eleanor Marie |
| Publisher | ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst |
| Source Sets | University of Massachusetts, Amherst |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Source | Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest |
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