NEW YORK CITY AND NEW YORK STATE

 

 

What are Intergenerational Programs?

Intergenerational programming is defined by the National Council on Aging as:

"Activities or programs that increase cooperation, interaction or exchange between any two generations. It involves the sharing of skills, knowledge or experience between young and old".

Intergenerational programs are loosely categorized into the following types of activities, based upon who takes the initiative in the activities:

· Youth or children serving elders [such as school-based community service programs]

· Elders serving children, youth or families [e.g. mentoring programs]

· Young and old jointly providing community service or services to one another

· Co-learning initiatives, including arts programming, that offer the opportunity to share learning or creative environments

· Oral history

· Shared sites that offer joint child and elder care.

Even though most intergenerational programs anticipate the involvement of unrelated individuals, some programs [e.g., those that offer services to grandparents raising grandchildren] may specifically service related generations.

 

    

 


© 2001 New York City Department for the Aging & New York State Intergenerational Network
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