[Indirect effects of school volunteering by senior citizens on parents through the "REPRINTS" intergenerational health promotion program].

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: We have launched a new intervention study, called "REPRINTS" (Research of productivity by intergenerational sympathy), in which senior volunteers aged 60 years and over are engaged in reading picture books to school children, regularly visiting public elementary schools since 2004. METHODS: So far, no repeated cross-sectional studies to demonstrate indirect effects on parents have been reported, although reciprocal effects on senior volunteers and children have been demonstrated. The purpose of this study was to examine the changes of evaluation of "REPRINTS" program by parents of school children during the 2 years. SUBJECTS & SETTING: Four to six volunteers as a group visited an elementary school in a suburb of Kawasaki city twice a week to read picture books. A baseline survey was conducted one month after launching the volunteer activity. First to fourth follow-up surveys were conducted every 6 months after baseline surver. Of 368 parents, 230 whose children were in 1st-4th grade were analyzed. MEASUREMENTS: School grade of children, gender, emotional image scale of older adults by the SD (Semantic Differential) method (13 items), parents' evaluation of activity of "REPRINTS" volunteers such as promotion of reading for children, or children's respect for older adults, appreciation, familiarity with older adults, indirect effects on promotion of safety in the community, and reducing parent's physical and psychological burdens of volunteer service for school. Repeated cross-sectional analyses by ANCOVA, adjusted for confounding factors, were conducted in order to compare changes in responses between parents of 1st-2nd grade children (lower-grade children) with those of 3rd-4th grade-children (middle-grade children). We examined experiences of being read with picture books, greeting and having conversations with volunteers among all of 330 students of 1st-4th grade. These three items were examined using Chi-squared test to compare longitudinal change between parents of lower-grade and middle-grade children. RESULTS: Evaluation of children's familiarity with older adults significantly declined among parents of middle-grade children, but was maintained among those of lower-grade children during the 2 years. Physical burdens of volunteer service for school were lower among parents' of lower-grade children at baseline, and were significantly reduced among parents' of all grades. Promotion of reading for children, indirect effects on promotion of safety in the community, and frequency of hearing episodes of "REPRINTS" volunteers from children were higher among parents' of lower-grade children at baseline. Psychological burdens were reduced and level of knowledge of "REPRINTS" volunteers was increased among parents' of all grades. In terms of parents' emotional image scale of older adults in general, no significant difference was found among the grades of school children and number of surveys for all the subscales of 'socialization', 'activity', and 'cheerfulness'. CONCLUSION: The level of knowledge and a number of items of evaluation of "REPRINTS" volunteers were significantly increased among parents of both lower-grade and middle-grade children during the 2-year intervention. This study indicates that the "REPRINTS" program can contribute to establishing trust and reliance between generations of older adults and parents of school children with the children as mediators.

[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].

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: 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. SUBJECTS & SETTING: 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. MEASUREMENTS: 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. RESULT: 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. CONCLUSION: 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.