School of Social Work, University of Texas at Arlington, 211 S. Cooper Street, Arlington, TX 76019, USA.
Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Apr 11;19(8):4566. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19084566.
To help older adults cope with loneliness during COVID-19, a weekly, telephone-based intergenerational program called "" was created in April 2020 to link young and older adults together. As part of an evaluation of , a survey with both close and open-ended questions was sent to participants.
A total of 63 Bigs and 53 Minis completed the survey. Their stress compared to before COVID-19, loneliness, life satisfaction, intergenerational closeness, and satisfaction with the program were measured for participants. Descriptive, bivariate correlation and conventional content analyses were conducted.
On average, Bigs and Minis had participated in the program for 3.73 and 3.49 months, respectively. Approximately half of the Bigs (47.6%) and Minis (52.8%) felt the same stress level compared to before COVID-19. A few participants felt "less stressed" compared to before COVID -9 (14.3 and 7.5%, respectively, for Bigs and Minis). All participants reported medium levels of loneliness, high levels of satisfaction with life, satisfaction with the program, and intergenerational closeness. Content analysis suggested that the reasons to join or expectations of the program were friendship, mutually beneficial intergenerational connections, and coping with loneliness.
The program offers a promising approach with mutual benefits for participants. Strategies to improve the program and implications for intergenerational programs are presented.
为帮助老年人应对新冠肺炎疫情期间的孤独感，2020 年 4 月创建了一个名为“Bigs and Littles”的每周一次的电话式代际项目，将年轻人和老年人联系在一起。作为该项目评估的一部分，向参与者发送了一份既有封闭式问题又有开放式问题的调查。
共有 63 名“Bigs”和 53 名“Minis”完成了调查。对参与者的压力、孤独感、生活满意度、代际亲密感和对项目的满意度进行了测量。进行了描述性、双变量相关和常规内容分析。
平均而言，“Bigs”和“Minis”分别参加该项目 3.73 个月和 3.49 个月。大约一半的“Bigs”（47.6%）和“Minis”（52.8%）感觉与新冠肺炎疫情前的压力水平相同。一些参与者感到“压力更小”（分别为 14.3%和 7.5%）。所有参与者报告孤独感处于中等水平，对生活、对项目、对代际关系的满意度都很高。内容分析表明，参加或期望该项目的原因是友谊、互惠互利的代际关系和应对孤独感。
“Bigs and Littles”项目为参与者提供了一种互惠互利的有希望的方法。提出了改进该项目的策略和对代际项目的启示。
