The impact of international videoconferencing among older adults and secondary students

This study explores young adults' emotional affect and attitudes towards ageing, as well as older adults' emotional affect and self-esteem following participation in the intergenerational videoconferencing programme Smile Connect (SC). The sample consisted of 94 participants (46 ol...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Carcavilla González, Nuria, García-Meilán, Juan José, Llorente, Thide E., Martínez-Nicolás, Israel, Tamayo-Mortera, O.
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión aceptada para publicación
Fecha de publicación:2019
País:España
Institución:Universidad Pública de Navarra
Repositorio:Academica-e. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad Pública de Navarra
OAI Identifier:oai:academica-e.unavarra.es:2454/53055
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/2454/53055
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Intergenerational
Ageism
Self-esteem
Videoconferences
Aging attitudes
Emotional affect
Intergenerational programme
Descripción
Sumario:This study explores young adults' emotional affect and attitudes towards ageing, as well as older adults' emotional affect and self-esteem following participation in the intergenerational videoconferencing programme Smile Connect (SC). The sample consisted of 94 participants (46 older Spanish adults living in a care home in Spain and 48 young Italian adults -secondary students- learning Spanish at school in Italy). Each age group was divided into an intervention and control group. SC consists of twelve 30-minute chat sessions conducted via Skype between the target groups over six weeks. Pre and post evaluations were made to assess the affect level in both groups, self-esteem among older people, and the level of negative stereotypes about ageing among young adults. At the end of the SC, the intervention group of older adults recorded significantly improved scores in self-esteem compared to the control group. Young adults recorded a reduction in their negative stereotypes about old age after taking part in the SC programme compared to those who did not. These findings suggest that involvement in the SC programme helps to improve the emotional affect of older adults living in care homes, as well as change the negative stereotypes about ageing among young adults.