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This toolkit was developed by Generations United and the Leading Age LTSS Center @UMass Boston with funding from the RRF Foundation for Aging (formerly the Retirement Research Foundation). It was designed specifically to help senior housing organizations plan and implement high-quality intergenerational programs that will benefit residents and young people in their communities.

While designed with senior housing organizations in mind, a range of organizations interested in planning and implementing intergenerational programs and activities will also find the toolkit useful.

There are many ways to take an intergenerational approach to programming. The materials contained in the toolkit can help you begin developing your program and/or give you tips on deepening or expanding your intergenerational work.

About this Toolkit

Residents of Country View Apartments and Townhomes, a multifamily Volunteers of America community in Benton Harbor, MI, gather to play games and socialize as part of the newly initiated intergenerational program.

The research team would like to thank The Retirement Research Foundation for its generous support of this project.

Additional thanks to Donna Butts, Executive Director of Generations United, and Robyn Stone, Co-director of the LTSS Center, for their guidance and support, and to our Advisory Committee, particularly to Matt Kaplan, Ph.D, Penn State University, and Shannon Jarrott, Ph.D, Ohio State University, for their feedback on this toolkit and supplemental materials.

Additional thanks to Emily Patrick and Sheri Steinig at Generations United, and Andrea Taylor, Ph.D. at TaylorConsulting LLC for their thoughtful review and suggestions.

Lastly, the research team is very grateful to the many housing providers and staff with whom it has worked during this project. These individuals share the vision that high-quality intergenerational programming can connect generations and communities for mutual benefit (and fun!). The following individuals were instrumental in assisting with this toolkit through their participation in an Intergenerational Programming Learning Collaborative:

Authors:

Nancy Henkin, Ph.D., Senior Fellow, Generations United.
Taryn Patterson, Ph.D., Research Associate, LeadingAge LTSS Center @UMass Boston.

Cover photo courtesy of Juliette Fowler Communities, Dallas, TX.

Any reproduction of materials included in this toolkit is permissible provided Generations United and LeadingAge are credited and no profits are made.