[Regulatory factors for images of the elderly among elementary school students assessed through secular trend analyses by frequency of inter-exchange with "REPRINTS" senior volunteers].
OBJECTIVE
We have launched a new intervention study, called "REPRINTS" (Research of productivity by intergenerational sympathy) in which senior volunteers aged 60 years and over engage in reading picture books to school children, regularly visiting public elementary schools since 2004. The purpose of this study was to clarify characteristics of images of older people held by elementary school children and factors associated with such images, as well as to examine changes in images through intervention by "REPRINTS" senior volunteers (volunteers) for the initial one year period.


METHODS



METHODS
Four to six volunteers as a group visited A elementary school in a suburb Kawasaki city (470 students) twice a week to read picture books. The baseline survey was conducted one month after launching the volunteer activity. First and second follow-up surveys were conducted at 6 month intervals after the baseline survey.


METHODS
Grade, gender, short version of emotional-like image scale of older adults assessed by the SD (Semantic Differential) method (6 items in the subscale for "evaluation" and 4 items in the subscale for "potency/activity"), experience of living with grandparents, experience of interchange with older people, frequency of interchange with volunteers and the social desirability scale for children.


RESULTS
Related variables for a higher score in the subscale for "evaluation" included lower grade and abundant experience of interchange with older people such as grandparents. Those for "potency/ activity" included lower grade, male gender, and a higher social desirability scale for children in the multiple logistic regression model. Students were divided into two groups in terms of frequency of interchange with volunteers (low and high-frequency groups) through three surveys. In the subscale for "evaluation", the general linear model demonstrated a significant interaction between the group and number of surveys adjusted for confounding factors.


CONCLUSIONS
Although emotional images of older people significantly decline with advancing grade, those of students with a high frequency of interchange with volunteers were here found to be maintained more positively over one year compared to those with a low frequency.
Fujiwara
Yoshinori
Y
Research Team for Social Participation and Health Promotion, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology.
Watanabe
Naoki
N
Nishi
Mariko
M
Lee
Sangyoon
S
Ohba
Hiromi
H
Yoshida
Hiroto
H
Sakuma
Naoko
N
Fukaya
Taro
T
Kousa
Youko
Y
Inoue
Kazuko
K
Amano
Hidenori
H
Uchida
Hayato
H
Kakuno
Fumihiko
F
Shinkai
Shoji
S
D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016901:Intergenerational Relations; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012928:Social Desirability; D014838:Volunteers