Before you start
Welcome to the InterGen Project Community Toolkit
This toolkit is one outcome of research conducted through The InterGen Project.
InterGen was one of the first trials of a community-based model to develop and foster intergenerational social connection between older adults and teens in the eastern metropolitan region of Victoria.
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This toolkit is freely available for communities to use to develop, run and evaluate their own intergenerational programs, locations and activities. For further assistance or collaboration opportunities, please contact the InterGen Projects lead investigator:​​​​​
InterGen research Team: Jayme Verhagen, Jasmine Knox, Max Schleser, Milovan Savic and Jane Farmer
What do we know about intergenerational connection?
Intergenerational connection is defined as a practices that provide opportunities for purposeful and ongoing exchange between at least two non-familiar, non-adjacent older and younger people within social, civic and/or educational experiences.
Intergenerational social connection emphasises social cohesion as a key part of the development and practice of intergenerational activities. There has been growing interest in improving intergenerational social connection in communities as a way of improving community health. Intergenerational social connection has been shown to have many benefits for the physical and mental wellbeing of younger and older people, but also for the health of communities. Intergenerational social connection is important because it promotes greater awareness and understanding among the younger and older generations, improvement of physical and mental wellbeing, and better self-esteem for both generations (Martins et al., 2019).
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The InterGen project used a unique model to develop intergenerational social connection responding to the people, places and activities that were unique to particular communities.
This model is unique because it emphasizes links and collaboration using community connectors thinking through three aspects phases of social connection. These include:
Places and spaces
People and context
Activities and Objects
The impact of intergenerational connection in communities
