Facilitating intergenerational learning between older people and student nurses: An integrative review.

Aim: To examine the literature on intergenerational learning between older people and student nurses.
Background: Intergenerational activities offer opportunities for intergenerational learning and help reduce ageism. There are several older person/school children intergenerational learning initiatives. However, there is less known about how intergenerational learning occurs in nurse education programmes outside of service provision.
Methods: Whittemore and Knafl's (2005) integrative review framework was used to guide the review process. Population, intervention, context and outcome (PICO) was used to develop the review question, search strategy and inclusion/exclusion criteria. Database (CINAHL, Cochrane library, Medline, PubMed, Scopus and PsychInfo) searches and hand searching occurred from 2012 to 2023. Screening, appraisal and data extraction was undertaken according to Prisma guidelines.
Results: Nine papers were included (North American (n = 5), Canadian (n = 1) Chinese (n = 2), Taiwanese (n = 1)). Mixed methods designs were included. Four themes were identified: 1) Seeing beyond first glance; 2) Connecting and getting to know each other; 3) Learning together; and 4) Challenges for intergenerational learning.
Conclusion: This review demonstrates the relevance of intergenerational learning in nurse education and highlights the importance of embedding initiatives which will promote and support mutual learning. Innovative intergenerational initiatives enable students to explore their underlying attitudes and views in a way that they may not be able to in the more traditional service and care giving learning situations.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. Note as a point of information: This integrative review paper was prepared as part of a larger research project funded by the University of Limerick, Health Research Institute/Health Implementation Science Technology, Limerick, Ireland.
(Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)