[Junior high school students' awareness of older adults' daily lives and social resources available for older adults: Focus on S city].

Objective In order to assess the impact of educational content on students, this study investigated junior high school students' awareness of older adults' daily lives and the social resources available for older adults.Methods Participants were 967 second-year students at a public junior high school in S city. A complete enumeration survey was conducted using anonymous self-administered questionnaires. The survey items obtained information about participants' demographic characteristics, their perceptions of older adults' daily life, and their awareness of the social resources for older adults.Results Of the 555 returned questionnaires (57.4%), 490 (50.7%) valid responses were analyzed. A total of 158 participants (32.2%) lived with their grandparents, and 232 participants (47.3%) had some experience living with their grandparents, most of whom still lived independently. Further, 303 participants (61.8%) met their grandparents at least once or twice a week. The mean age of participants' grandparents was 72.2 years. The mean age that the participants regarded a person as "elderly" was 71.3 years. Participants' perceptions of older adults' daily lives included decreased physical ability due to aging, need and desire to stay in touch with family and/or friends, and enjoying hobbies and pleasurable activities. Participants who met their grandparents at least once or twice a week perceived elderly life as more cheerful compared to participants who met their grandparents once or twice a month or less. The participants were familiar with some social resources for older adults such as "administrative disaster-prevention wireless communication system," "transportation service by car," and "visiting nurse." Female participants were aware of significantly more social resources compared to male participants, as were participants who met their grandparents at least once or twice a week compared to those who met their grandparents once or twice a month or less.Conclusion Although participants were aware of the age-related physical changes, they were unaware of the difficulties associated with these changes in the daily lives of older adults. Gender and frequency of contact with grandparents may have contributed to junior high school students' awareness of social resources for older adults.