Digital Design

Marina

Literature Review for Intergenerational Mental Health

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Young Adult Mental Health

Now more than ever, college students are struggling with debilitating mental health issues. Although mental illness has been greatly destigmatized in the recent decade, students are still struggling to have their needs met. People have turned to social media platforms to publicize their mental health concerns and the ways in which they cope with the daily stress of life. Although this movement has fostered an online community and support system for many young adults who struggle with mental illness, colleges and universities still struggle to provide adequate resources for students’ mental health. Many students feel that, in academic settings, they are being set up for failure because they can’t balance all of their activities (Reilly 39). This stress is exacerbated by a lack of perspective regarding the future, and this lack of perspective fuels more anxiety.

In “Depression on Campus” by Katie Reilly, Reilly presents an argument about college students’ mental health, focusing primarily on how mental illness has increased amongst students on college campuses and how these colleges and universities are treating growing mental health concerns. She states that “from 2009 to ‘15, the number of students visiting counseling centers increased by about 30% on average, while university enrollment grew by less than 6%…” (Reilly 41). Schools then had to work to catch up to this demand, but they didn’t have enough resources. In one anecdote, a girl named Dana said that it took her two weeks to get off of the waitlist to meet with a college counselor at her school, and she was unable to make a follow-up appointment because the center was overbooked (Reilly 41). Reilly’s report utilizes anecdotes like Dana’s that show how students struggle to have their mental health needs met. 

She concludes the article by describing certain measures that colleges have taken to combat this issue, but also makes it clear that there is a lot of work left in order to make these changes sustainable and continuously effective. She summarizes a recent report about recent efforts that universities have made to ameliorate the issue of being unable to attend to the mental health needs of students: 

A 2016 report by the Center for Collegiate Mental Health found that, on average, universities have increased rapid-access services—including walk-in appointments and crisis treatment for students demonstrating signs of distress—since 2010 in response to rising demand from students. But routine treatment services, including recurring appointments and specialized counseling, have decreased on average in that time (42). 

This report shows that the responses to the surge in demand for counseling services are tangible, but they are not necessarily lasting. While this is progress, it is a temporary fix for a deep rooted problem. The purpose of Reilly’s article is more to spread awareness through facts and anecdotes about a growing mental health problem among college students in our country. She does not offer her own solutions, but she also does not make it seem as if this is an impossible problem to solve. 

In “Talk, Don’t Run: Can an Intergenerational Program Relieve Teenage Pressure?” by Lisa Cox Hall, Hall focuses specifically on how intergenerational relationships have impacted teenagers and young adults. Intergenerational programs (IGPs) have existed in the United States since the 60’s. Hall states that “conceptually and theoretically, bringing young and old together can achieve a multitude of delightful and appealing benefits such as reducing ageist stereotypes in children and increasing a sense of purpose in retired adults” (Hall 404). She also contends that engaging in IGPs involves “conscientiousness and thinking more of others than thinking only of oneself” (406). This increases the self-esteem of the teenagers and young adults who are engaging in IGPs because they have more of a sense of purpose, which can lead to “greater life satisfaction, less depression, and more hopefulness” (Hall 406). 

Hall also says that they have a positive impact on the mental health of young adults because they provide perspective for students that they don’t have in their day to day lives and give them a broader sense of understanding about the world and their impact. This perspective from older generations also alleviates young adults of a lot of their anxiety (Hall 406). Hall states that, through intergenerational programming, young adults “may be able to comprehend that patience is the antidote to anxiety, that surviving failure is what makes failing survivable, and that sheer experience provides insight that can diminish self-doubt and hopelessness” (Hall 406). This is one of the main benefits of intergenerational programming for young adults, the fact that they can gain an invaluable perspective about life that they cannot get without the wisdom of someone who is older. 

In the final article, “Reflections on the Dynamics of a Student Organized Intergenerational Visiting Program to Promote Social Connectedness”, Kendall Horan and Margaret Perkinson report an example of an intergenerational program at the University of Hawaii. The university started this program with students who live far from home and cannot interact with their families on a regular basis (Horan and Perkinson 397). These students partnered with a local nursing home and coordinated twelve visits, each lasting two hours, over the course of the semester (Horan and Perkinson 397). They engaged in activities like storytelling, pumpkin carving, Christmas ornament decorating, and just meeting to talk and get to know each other (Horan and Perkinson 397). It created a sense of purpose and belonging in both groups, but it especially impacted the students by making them feel as if they were a part of a larger community that provided support and even friendship. Horan and Perkinson include an anecdote from one of the students:

I really love spending Sunday at the care home. They are all so friendly and loving. I feel like we both give each other a sense of purpose. They bring the best qualities out in my heart and I believe we do the same. When I came for Valentine’s Day, it brought joy to my heart that a rose could make a resident tear. The joy that we brought to them will always be a significant memory in my heart, because they brought it right back. It humbled my heart that a simple gesture can bring pure joy to a person (Horan and Perkinson 399). 

This student makes an important remark about how the program provides her with a sense of purpose, and that this sense of purpose can lead to happiness and a newfound sense of appreciation for small gestures. This study relates to Hall’s article about how intergenerational programs can improve self esteem in students by giving them a sense of purpose.

These three articles are part of a growing dialogue surrounding teen and young adult mental health. They each use a different approach in order to talk about the problem, and through these different approaches they address mental health issues on varying scales. For example, in the Reilly article, she focuses on mental health amongst all college students by focusing on what colleges and universities have found in certain studies and through collecting certain data about their student body and mental health. From there, she speculates about causes for an increase in mental health problems and also provides student anecdotes about why they have been struggling and why their needs have not been met by their school. She does not necessarily provide a solution for the issues that she brings up, but she does bring attention to the fact that colleges and universities have a lot of work to do in order to sufficiently attend to the mental health needs of all of their students, because these needs have grown over the past decade.

The Hall article provides more of a specific argument about teen and young adult mental health, stating that it can be improved greatly by engaging in intergenerational relationships. She does not provide as many statistics as Reilly does, but she does provide specifics about how young adults interact with older people, and why these interactions have a positive effect on their mental health. She focuses on the perspective that young adults can gain from forming relationships and opening up to older people. This is similar to Horan and Perkinson’s study, but they take it a step further by including the details of an actual intergenerational program that took place on a college campus. She provides details of the program, anecdotes, and photos in order to encapsulate the effects of an intergenerational program. 

These three articles all work to illuminate how important mental health is for young adults, who challenge to maintain a strong self-image in today’s society with social media, as well as with the added demands from school and extracurricular activities. They show the urgency of this issue, and how, if not combated in innovative, lasting ways, mental illness in younger generations could worsen. The Hall and Horan and Perkinson articles focus primarily on the mental health benefits of interacting with older generations, whereas the Reilly article looks at mental illness treatment on college campuses as a larger issue. This article is imperative to understanding the urgency of finding solutions for young adults’ mental health problems, and it informs the other two articles.

These three articles are important to our work specifically because we need to be aware of how mental illness is increasing in younger generations, as a lot of our work is centered around improving the lives of both young adults and older people by showing them the benefits of intergenerational programming. I think that it is important to look at the current state of teenagers and young adults and to acknowledge the fact that there has been an increase in diagnosed mental illness amongst this demographic, and what this means for our project. It shows that the work we are doing in promoting intergenerational relationships is important during this time because it has the potential to help young adults improve their mental health and self-esteem. 

Secondary Source Reports:

  1. Reilly, Katie. “Depression on Campus.” TIME Magazine, April 9, 2018.

Thesis: “Spigner, 21, is among the rapidly growing number of college students seeking mental-health treatment on campuses facing an unprecedented demand for counseling services” (41).

Restatement: The number of college students seeking help on campus for their mental health has increased greatly, making it difficult for colleges to accommodate every student and leaving many students without the help that they need.

Structure: The structure of this article is concise and informative, likely because it is a magazine article. The statistics and anecdotes that Reilly includes are stated very clearly and all provide valuable insight into the thesis by showing specifically how college students are struggling with mental health services on campus because of such an increase in stress, anxiety, and depression amongst students. Reilly relies greatly on anecdotes both about how students feel they are struggling in college and how college administration feels they are struggling with in terms of providing counseling and resources for all students who need it. They show that colleges are aware of the increase in students seeking counseling on campus and are making efforts to ameliorate the situation, but that it is difficult to get the resources for students so that they do not have to wait long periods of time to see a counselor. Reilly does not offer a solution but rather sheds light on this pressing issue so that people can be aware of this shift amongst college students.

Rhetorical Strategies: Reilly uses statistics well and knows what is important to include and what isn’t, therefore avoiding just putting in a block quote. I also like how she uses concrete anecdotes, and how the anecdotes are from students and faculty at different schools of various sizes to show how mental health issues impact any kind of college or university. This article is more of an exploration of the recent increase in mental illness on campus, but I think that it would have been beneficial for Reilly to include ideas for solutions or something as a conclusion based off of all of the information she collected.

2. Hall, Lisa Cox. “Talk, Don’t Run: Can an Intergenerational Program Relieve Teenage Pressure?” Journal of Intergenerational Relationships, vol. 17, no. 3, 31 July 2019, pp. 404-09. Taylor and Francis Online.

Thesis: “Conceptually and theoretically, bringing young and old together can achieve a multitude of delightful and appealing benefits such as reducing ageist stereotypes in children and increasing a sense of purpose in retired adults” (404).

Restatement: Intergenerational relationships can have positive benefits on both older and younger people, including reducing ageist stereotypes in children and improving their perspective and increasing a sense of purpose in older adults.

Structure: The structure of this article is very organized and starts by explaining what intergenerational relationships are and providing certain examples of intergenerational programs. Hall also provides information about the demographic that engages in intergenerational programming, stating that it is mainly low-income families. She focuses on examples of how young adults see themselves and includes documentaries about young adult life in order to provide examples of how they are struggling with finding a sense of self and purpose. She also includes information and statistics from multiple studies that surveyed the effects of intergenerational relationships on young adults.

Rhetorical Strategy: I like how specific and well-researched Hall’s article is. It shows that she considered a variety of sources and studies about intergenerational relationships and decided what information was the most pressing and important to include. It increased her credibility and also showed how vast the dialogue is surrounding intergenerational relationships and programming.

3. Horan, Kendall, and Margaret A. Perkinson. “Reflections on the Dynamics of a Student Organized Intergenerational Visiting Program to Promote Social Connectedness.” Journal of Intergenerational Relationships, vol. 17, no. 3, 31 July 2019. Taylor and Francis Group.

Thesis: “Intergenerational programs have been found to be successful in creating opportunities for personal growth and social connections for student participants and for older adults both living in the community and in residential care” (396)

Restatement: Intergenerational programs are beneficial for both young adults and older adults because they provide opportunities for personal growth and social connections within certain communities. 

Structure: This article is organized into sections that are clearly labeled to describe a specific example of an intergenerational program. Horan and Perkinson do not directly mention the increase of mental health issues amongst young adults, but they do talk about how the college students who participated in this intergenerational program felt isolated from their families and were looking to be more involved in the community. They also conclude the article with pictures and anecdotes from both the young adults and older adults who participated in the program. 

Rhetorical Strategy: I liked how everything was split into sections, starting with general background information about intergenerational relationships and getting progressively more specific as they explained the specific program in Hawaii. This is more of a report about the intergenerational program rather than a direct analysis of the effects. They do talk about the effects on both generations that participated in the program, but they do this mainly through sharing anecdotes instead of through a psychological analysis.

Ballroom Map:

Literature Review for Intergenerational Mental Health

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Young Adult Mental Health

Now more than ever, college students are struggling with debilitating mental health issues. Although mental illness has been greatly destigmatized in the recent decade, students are still struggling to have their needs met. People have turned to social media platforms to publicize their mental health concerns and the ways in which they cope with the daily stress of life. Although this movement has fostered an online community and support system for many young adults who struggle with mental illness, colleges and universities still struggle to provide adequate resources for students’ mental health. Many students feel that, in academic settings, they are being set up for failure because they can’t balance all of their activities (Reilly 39). This stress is exacerbated by a lack of perspective regarding the future, and this lack of perspective fuels more anxiety.

In “Depression on Campus” by Katie Reilly, Reilly presents an argument about college students’ mental health, focusing primarily on how mental illness has increased amongst students on college campuses and how these colleges and universities are treating growing mental health concerns. She states that “from 2009 to ‘15, the number of students visiting counseling centers increased by about 30% on average, while university enrollment grew by less than 6%…” (Reilly 41). Schools then had to work to catch up to this demand, but they didn’t have enough resources. In one anecdote, a girl named Dana said that it took her two weeks to get off of the waitlist to meet with a college counselor at her school, and she was unable to make a follow-up appointment because the center was overbooked (Reilly 41). Reilly’s report utilizes anecdotes like Dana’s that show how students struggle to have their mental health needs met. 

She concludes the article by describing certain measures that colleges have taken to combat this issue, but also makes it clear that there is a lot of work left in order to make these changes sustainable and continuously effective. She summarizes a recent report about recent efforts that universities have made to ameliorate the issue of being unable to attend to the mental health needs of students: 

A 2016 report by the Center for Collegiate Mental Health found that, on average, universities have increased rapid-access services—including walk-in appointments and crisis treatment for students demonstrating signs of distress—since 2010 in response to rising demand from students. But routine treatment services, including recurring appointments and specialized counseling, have decreased on average in that time (42). 

This report shows that the responses to the surge in demand for counseling services are tangible, but they are not necessarily lasting. While this is progress, it is a temporary fix for a deep rooted problem. The purpose of Reilly’s article is more to spread awareness through facts and anecdotes about a growing mental health problem among college students in our country. She does not offer her own solutions, but she also does not make it seem as if this is an impossible problem to solve. 

In “Talk, Don’t Run: Can an Intergenerational Program Relieve Teenage Pressure?” by Lisa Cox Hall, Hall focuses specifically on how intergenerational relationships have impacted teenagers and young adults. Intergenerational programs (IGPs) have existed in the United States since the 60’s. Hall states that “conceptually and theoretically, bringing young and old together can achieve a multitude of delightful and appealing benefits such as reducing ageist stereotypes in children and increasing a sense of purpose in retired adults” (Hall 404). She also contends that engaging in IGPs involves “conscientiousness and thinking more of others than thinking only of oneself” (406). This increases the self-esteem of the teenagers and young adults who are engaging in IGPs because they have more of a sense of purpose, which can lead to “greater life satisfaction, less depression, and more hopefulness” (Hall 406). 

Hall also says that they have a positive impact on the mental health of young adults because they provide perspective for students that they don’t have in their day to day lives and give them a broader sense of understanding about the world and their impact. This perspective from older generations also alleviates young adults of a lot of their anxiety (Hall 406). Hall states that, through intergenerational programming, young adults “may be able to comprehend that patience is the antidote to anxiety, that surviving failure is what makes failing survivable, and that sheer experience provides insight that can diminish self-doubt and hopelessness” (Hall 406). This is one of the main benefits of intergenerational programming for young adults, the fact that they can gain an invaluable perspective about life that they cannot get without the wisdom of someone who is older. 

In the final article, “Reflections on the Dynamics of a Student Organized Intergenerational Visiting Program to Promote Social Connectedness”, Kendall Horan and Margaret Perkinson report an example of an intergenerational program at the University of Hawaii. The university started this program with students who live far from home and cannot interact with their families on a regular basis (Horan and Perkinson 397). These students partnered with a local nursing home and coordinated twelve visits, each lasting two hours, over the course of the semester (Horan and Perkinson 397). They engaged in activities like storytelling, pumpkin carving, Christmas ornament decorating, and just meeting to talk and get to know each other (Horan and Perkinson 397). It created a sense of purpose and belonging in both groups, but it especially impacted the students by making them feel as if they were a part of a larger community that provided support and even friendship. Horan and Perkinson include an anecdote from one of the students:

I really love spending Sunday at the care home. They are all so friendly and loving. I feel like we both give each other a sense of purpose. They bring the best qualities out in my heart and I believe we do the same. When I came for Valentine’s Day, it brought joy to my heart that a rose could make a resident tear. The joy that we brought to them will always be a significant memory in my heart, because they brought it right back. It humbled my heart that a simple gesture can bring pure joy to a person (Horan and Perkinson 399). 

This student makes an important remark about how the program provides her with a sense of purpose, and that this sense of purpose can lead to happiness and a newfound sense of appreciation for small gestures. This study relates to Hall’s article about how intergenerational programs can improve self esteem in students by giving them a sense of purpose.

These three articles are part of a growing dialogue surrounding teen and young adult mental health. They each use a different approach in order to talk about the problem, and through these different approaches they address mental health issues on varying scales. For example, in the Reilly article, she focuses on mental health amongst all college students by focusing on what colleges and universities have found in certain studies and through collecting certain data about their student body and mental health. From there, she speculates about causes for an increase in mental health problems and also provides student anecdotes about why they have been struggling and why their needs have not been met by their school. She does not necessarily provide a solution for the issues that she brings up, but she does bring attention to the fact that colleges and universities have a lot of work to do in order to sufficiently attend to the mental health needs of all of their students, because these needs have grown over the past decade.

The Hall article provides more of a specific argument about teen and young adult mental health, stating that it can be improved greatly by engaging in intergenerational relationships. She does not provide as many statistics as Reilly does, but she does provide specifics about how young adults interact with older people, and why these interactions have a positive effect on their mental health. She focuses on the perspective that young adults can gain from forming relationships and opening up to older people. This is similar to Horan and Perkinson’s study, but they take it a step further by including the details of an actual intergenerational program that took place on a college campus. She provides details of the program, anecdotes, and photos in order to encapsulate the effects of an intergenerational program. 

These three articles all work to illuminate how important mental health is for young adults, who challenge to maintain a strong self-image in today’s society with social media, as well as with the added demands from school and extracurricular activities. They show the urgency of this issue, and how, if not combated in innovative, lasting ways, mental illness in younger generations could worsen. The Hall and Horan and Perkinson articles focus primarily on the mental health benefits of interacting with older generations, whereas the Reilly article looks at mental illness treatment on college campuses as a larger issue. This article is imperative to understanding the urgency of finding solutions for young adults’ mental health problems, and it informs the other two articles.

These three articles are important to our work specifically because we need to be aware of how mental illness is increasing in younger generations, as a lot of our work is centered around improving the lives of both young adults and older people by showing them the benefits of intergenerational programming. I think that it is important to look at the current state of teenagers and young adults and to acknowledge the fact that there has been an increase in diagnosed mental illness amongst this demographic, and what this means for our project. It shows that the work we are doing in promoting intergenerational relationships is important during this time because it has the potential to help young adults improve their mental health and self-esteem. 

Secondary Source Reports:

  1. Reilly, Katie. “Depression on Campus.” TIME Magazine, April 9, 2018.

Thesis: “Spigner, 21, is among the rapidly growing number of college students seeking mental-health treatment on campuses facing an unprecedented demand for counseling services” (41).

Restatement: The number of college students seeking help on campus for their mental health has increased greatly, making it difficult for colleges to accommodate every student and leaving many students without the help that they need.

Structure: The structure of this article is concise and informative, likely because it is a magazine article. The statistics and anecdotes that Reilly includes are stated very clearly and all provide valuable insight into the thesis by showing specifically how college students are struggling with mental health services on campus because of such an increase in stress, anxiety, and depression amongst students. Reilly relies greatly on anecdotes both about how students feel they are struggling in college and how college administration feels they are struggling with in terms of providing counseling and resources for all students who need it. They show that colleges are aware of the increase in students seeking counseling on campus and are making efforts to ameliorate the situation, but that it is difficult to get the resources for students so that they do not have to wait long periods of time to see a counselor. Reilly does not offer a solution but rather sheds light on this pressing issue so that people can be aware of this shift amongst college students.

Rhetorical Strategies: Reilly uses statistics well and knows what is important to include and what isn’t, therefore avoiding just putting in a block quote. I also like how she uses concrete anecdotes, and how the anecdotes are from students and faculty at different schools of various sizes to show how mental health issues impact any kind of college or university. This article is more of an exploration of the recent increase in mental illness on campus, but I think that it would have been beneficial for Reilly to include ideas for solutions or something as a conclusion based off of all of the information she collected.

2. Hall, Lisa Cox. “Talk, Don’t Run: Can an Intergenerational Program Relieve Teenage Pressure?” Journal of Intergenerational Relationships, vol. 17, no. 3, 31 July 2019, pp. 404-09. Taylor and Francis Online.

Thesis: “Conceptually and theoretically, bringing young and old together can achieve a multitude of delightful and appealing benefits such as reducing ageist stereotypes in children and increasing a sense of purpose in retired adults” (404).

Restatement: Intergenerational relationships can have positive benefits on both older and younger people, including reducing ageist stereotypes in children and improving their perspective and increasing a sense of purpose in older adults.

Structure: The structure of this article is very organized and starts by explaining what intergenerational relationships are and providing certain examples of intergenerational programs. Hall also provides information about the demographic that engages in intergenerational programming, stating that it is mainly low-income families. She focuses on examples of how young adults see themselves and includes documentaries about young adult life in order to provide examples of how they are struggling with finding a sense of self and purpose. She also includes information and statistics from multiple studies that surveyed the effects of intergenerational relationships on young adults.

Rhetorical Strategy: I like how specific and well-researched Hall’s article is. It shows that she considered a variety of sources and studies about intergenerational relationships and decided what information was the most pressing and important to include. It increased her credibility and also showed how vast the dialogue is surrounding intergenerational relationships and programming.

3. Horan, Kendall, and Margaret A. Perkinson. “Reflections on the Dynamics of a Student Organized Intergenerational Visiting Program to Promote Social Connectedness.” Journal of Intergenerational Relationships, vol. 17, no. 3, 31 July 2019. Taylor and Francis Group.

Thesis: “Intergenerational programs have been found to be successful in creating opportunities for personal growth and social connections for student participants and for older adults both living in the community and in residential care” (396)

Restatement: Intergenerational programs are beneficial for both young adults and older adults because they provide opportunities for personal growth and social connections within certain communities. 

Structure: This article is organized into sections that are clearly labeled to describe a specific example of an intergenerational program. Horan and Perkinson do not directly mention the increase of mental health issues amongst young adults, but they do talk about how the college students who participated in this intergenerational program felt isolated from their families and were looking to be more involved in the community. They also conclude the article with pictures and anecdotes from both the young adults and older adults who participated in the program. 

Rhetorical Strategy: I liked how everything was split into sections, starting with general background information about intergenerational relationships and getting progressively more specific as they explained the specific program in Hawaii. This is more of a report about the intergenerational program rather than a direct analysis of the effects. They do talk about the effects on both generations that participated in the program, but they do this mainly through sharing anecdotes instead of through a psychological analysis.

Ballroom Map:

Website Evaluation: Talkspace

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Who is/are the author(s) of the page?
There is no designated author of the page because it is a platform that provides services and support for people struggling with mental illness. However, they have a blog where various licensed therapists, psychologists, psychiatrists, and journalists post about current issues and their effects on mental health. They make information about these authors very visible and accessible by making their names a hyperlink that redirects you to their bio. 

Who is the intended audience?
This site is for people who struggle with mental illness and are looking for an outlet that is specifically online. Talkspace provides a platform for finding and connecting with a therapist that is easy and affordable. They also provide written resources about depression, anxiety, and mood disorders to better understand their symptoms and treatment. The company was founded in 2012, and it seems to be geared more toward younger people who struggle with their mental health in the digital age and are maybe not seeking therapy or help in person. 

What kind of information is the site providing?
Talkspace provides written resources about depression, anxiety, and mood disorders to better understand their symptoms and treatment. It also provides press and testimonials about their therapy services, information on how to work for Talkspace as a therapist and how to sign up for Talkspace therapy. They also have a blog that explores relevant issues in society regarding mental health.

Is the design of the site well suited for the chosen content, functions, and audience? That is, is it easy for the user to navigate, search, and find answers? How so, how not so?
Yes, it is very easy to navigate and nice to look at in terms of the colors, font, and graphics. I was looking at various mental health and aging blogs and websites and decided on Talkspace because I liked the design the best and felt that it was the best organized. Some of the other websites have antiquated designs that were not conducive to exploring the site. It also made the site feel less reliable and relevant because it did not reflect current digital design techniques. With Talkspace, I could tell that they spent a lot of time formatting their website and making it look crisp and easily navigable, which I think is something that caters to its intended audience of younger people who interact with technology consistently throughout the day. They also include a lot of pictures of young, friendly looking people who I think are some of their therapists—this helps contextualize their services more and make it feel more personal even though it is online.

Does the site uphold Robin Williams’s principles design? Which ones does it fulfill? Which ones does it depart from?
Repetition is a big one that I noticed on Talkspace. Their principle colors are teal, navy, and white, and they appear on all of their pages. Also, there was good alignment that made me more willing to scroll throughout the pages. For example, they have their text boxes move from left to right instead of centering them or putting them all on one side, so there was a lot of natural eye movement. In terms of contrast, they use various font sizes. There is not a lot of proximity in the sense that a lot of scrolling is involved in order to read everything on a page (i.e. infographics), but I didn’t find this to be a problem. I liked that it was more spread out because it felt more interactive and not as if I was being given too much information at once.

How would you improve the presentation and/or design?
I really like their design! I like the soft blue colors—I’d maybe add a bit more of these colors because they do have a lot of white space. One thing that I didn’t like was that when I clicked on the links in the menu it would open up a new tab. Maybe they did this so it would be easy to get back to the main page without having to click the back button too many times, but I prefer not to have a lot of tabs from one website open.

What aspects of the site design or function would you like to apply to your own project and how?
Overall, their design is very professional, modern, clean, and easy to navigate. I like how their menu bar stays at the top even when I scroll down on the page. I also like how they have a separate page for their blog to stress the importance of the posts and blog community as being able to stand alone, separate from their services. I also like the pictures that they used and want to implement photos of people into our website to add context and make it feel more personal.

Link to website: https://www.talkspace.com/

Outreach and Sustainability Plan: Intergenerational Mental Health

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Outreach

Community Resources

  1. Georgia Ringle – Davidson College Health Educator
    1. Share project? Yes; we already met with Georgia to discuss our project and get resource recommendations both on and off-campus. We think that our website could be a beneficial resource for the Davidson College Center for Student Health and Well-Being because they can direct students to it to learn more about the mental health benefits of intergenerational relationships and how to get involved with Adopt-A-Grandfriend.
  2. Jack Casey – President of Adopt-A-Grandfriend at Davidson College
    1. Share project? We believe that our website, once established, will be useful for this student organization, which is currently run by Jack Casey. The website will advertise future events and serve as a digital space to preserve memories. We plan to include student and senior testimonies that will encourage more students to participate in Adopt-A-Grandfriend at Davidson College.
  3. Kristi Multhaup, PhD – Davidson College Professor and Chair of Psychology
    1. Share project? Yes; Dr. Multhaup’s expertise and research surrounding cognitive aging will allow us to learn from a scholar and professor who knows about the subject and could provide us with further research to explore. In order to create the most accurate representative platform for intergenerational programming, her opinion may be a crucial part of how we connect scholarship to Adopt-A-Grandfriend. 
  4. Adopt-A-Grandfriend student participants at Davidson College
    1. Share project? Yes; the student participants are an integral part of our project because they can provide us with the personal narratives we want to collect and share on our website. In order to get their permission to share their stories, we have to inform them of our project and how the information they provide will be used. 
  5. Adopt-A-Grandfriend adult participants
    1. Share project? Yes; the adult participants are also an integral part of our project because we also want to collect narratives from them as well. As stated above, in order to get their permission to share their stories on our website, we have to let them know about our project and how the information they give us will be used. 

Social Media

We have facilitated communication with a couple of our sources via our Davidson College  emails, which connects us to a credible and noteworthy school.

To build upon our current Davidson network, we will utilize Facebook to find other intergenerational programs and professionals who study intergenerational programming. All three of our Facebook profiles are established as legitimate Davidson College students. We believe that this will come across as more trustworthy than trying to reach out to scholars via a newly made account that has no followers, nor previous posts.

We will also create an Instagram account for our project that informs followers about intergenerational programming benefits, promotes Adopt-A-Grandparent events and shares pictures from Adopt-A-Grandfriend. By following other Davidson College and local Instagram accounts, and hopefully receiving a follow-back request, we can establish legitimacy in the Davidson community. Our goal for this account is to create a convenient space that compels students to participate in the experience. Instagram has the ability to publicise the Adopt-A-Grandfriend experience in a more interactive and exciting way, through photos, as opposed to Facebook or other forms of social media. It is one of the most relevant digital platforms used by college students, and will allow for easy access to our website. Our profile bio will include information about the three of us, that we are Davidson College Seniors taking a digital design course, our collective interest in mental health, our project, our Instagram page’s purpose, and a link to our website.

Using Instagram as a way to connect with other relevant sources, will bring us into meaningful conversation directly with the organizations and individuals that work so closely to establish and publicise intergenerational programming around the world. Hashtags and locations on posts will also aid in the immediate relationship of these various programs. We aim to not only join, but to facilitate relevant conversations because we feel that we are able to contribute stories and information about intergenerational relationships that are not widely shared.

Some hashtags to consider: #intergenerational#grandfriend#grandparent#mentalhealth#studentactivities#elderlylove#studentengagement#DavidsonCollege #communityengagement #buildingcommunity #Davidsonservice #youthempowerment#belonging#agefriendly

Some relevant communities and people on social media:
1. Rep. Sara Innamorato – Representative of the 21st District in Pennsylvania
Her Instagram
Her Twitter
2. Intergenerational Connections – Facebook group that has an ongoing conversation about intergenerational programs and how to better connect young and old.
3. Erin L. Raffety ‘04 – Cultural anthropologist and Davidson College Alumna who wrote a dissertation on intergenerational approaches to Chinese child rearing.

Sustainability
We plan on building our site on Nicolette’s domain. As every individual on this team will be graduating in May, we anticipate switching the website over to the president of Adopt-A-Grandfriend, who will most likely be Jack Casey. We also plan to include the advisor of the organization to ensure that the website doesn’t get lost or become irrelevant after the students graduate or leave the program. Additionally, we would like to move our site to digitalprojects.davidson.edu, to ensure that our progress and information is kept on a platform that stays relevant and interactive within the Davidson-specific community.

Ideally we would like our site to exist alongside the Adopt-A-Grandfriend program so that the president and participants can use it and update it based on how the program develops. A reassessment of our website and its future potential with the Adopt-A-Grandfriend club will occur by May 5th, when our final project is due. We will ensure that there will be someone to pass on the administrative access.

We will allow our website’s viewers to post comments because it will further facilitate community and show that feedback and sharing other individual stories are appreciated. While we predict our Instagram profile will be updated more frequently, allowing viewers to comment on our website will help us identify what information needs clarification. Based on the comments, the website admins may need to respond. Therefore, whoever is the admin after us will take over this responsibility as well. We are going to share administrative access to the domain with whomever is in charge of the Adopt-A-Grandfriend program in the future so that they can take over the site duties and post updates, stories, and possibly the semester schedule for the club. This also includes sharing our Instagram with the site leader and ensuring that both elements of our project be kept up to date and share similar information.

PLEDGED: MS, NS, CE

Annotated Bibliography

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Primary Sources

Our primary sources will be students and aging adults who are involved in the Grandfriends program on Davidson College’s campus, as well as people in other Davidson communities, like The Pines and Ada Jenkins. We will conduct interviews with the members of Grandfriends and people who live at The Pines or work at Ada Jenkins. We will also attend a Grandfriends event and report on it.

Secondary Sources

1) Blakemore, Erin. “Want a good life as you age? Book says finding purpose, maintaining social inclusion are some of the keys.” The Washington Post [Washington, D.C.], 18 Jan. 2020, www.washingtonpost.com/health/want-a-good-life-as-you-age-book-says-finding-purpose-maintaining-social-inclusion-are-some-of-the-keys/2020/01/17/035d567e-37f7-11ea-9541-9107303481a4_story.html.

This article makes salient points about a book called Aging Well: Solutions to the Most Pressing Global Challenges of Aging. It stresses the importance of social inclusion in order for older people to maintain a sense of purpose in the world and a connection to society. The books serves as a guide and provides important logistical information regarding aging, but it also takes this a step further by exploring social aspects of aging and the problems that arise. The author, William A. Haseltine, is also the chair and president of ACCESS Health International, a think tank in New York that is devoted to accessible health care. He focuses specifically on eldercare policies and practices that promote inclusion and purpose. One of these practices is cohousing, which is gaining some popularity in cities. Cohousing is where people, usually one older and one younger, share common spaces or a full home. He also mentions intergenerational programming in schools, as well as general public spaces, like parks, as facilitating intergenerational connection and activity.

The article also states that a 2017 study that was funded by AARP found that “older people who lack social contacts had higher death rates and spent more on health care than their more connected counterparts” (Blakemore). This social isolation was responsible for an estimated $6.7 billion in additional federal spending. This shows that intergenerational relationships have both a social and economic impact. The article also claims that the practices in this book help to combat “pervasive systemic ageist stereotypes and prejudices” (Blakemore). This source is important because it illuminates how intergenerational relationship studies discourse is not stagnant, and that there are scientists and philanthropists with credibility who are working on and writing about the issues with aging, and how to combat them. If possible, I think that it would be helpful to look at a few chapters of Aging Well.

2) George, Daniel R. “Intergenerational Volunteering and Quality of Life: Mixed Methods Evaluation of a Randomized Control Trial Involving Persons with Mild to Moderate Dementia.” Quality of Life Research, vol. 20, no. 7, 2011, pp. 987–995. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/41488817. Accessed 6 Feb. 2020.

This article reports on the purpose, background, methods, data collection and data analysis of a study done in Cleveland, Ohio, to assess the effects of intergenerational programming on both students and adults/elderly people with symptoms of dementia. There were two groups of students: one with children aged 5-6 and the other with children aged 11-14. The criteria for the adult participants was that they had to be over 50 years old, be diagnosed with mild to moderate dementia, have basic literacy and a willingness to read children’s books, be able to walk or be transported easily, and not have severe depression, anxiety, or agoraphobia. The participants met with each of the groups on alternating weeks for a 5-month interval, so this was a relatively long term project in order to collect the most accurate and sustained results. They looked for perceived health benefits, both physically and socially.

When surveying the participants after the 5-month period, the adult and elderly participants reported an increased sense of purpose and usefulness (role continuation, reminiscence, joy of teaching children), health benefits (reduced stress and depression, youthful energy, cognitive stimulation), and relationship building (physical touch, proxy grandchildren, racial reconciliation, acceptance, reciprocity). The results also include transcriptions from interviews of the adult/elderly participants about their experiences. All of them speak of positive learning experiences on both ends. The idea of reciprocity is important in this study, even though the results focus on the older participants. The participants focus on the cognitive effects on both themselves and the students, showing that they were positively influenced by knowing that they were helping the students as well. Overall, this article illuminates the importance of gathering quantitative data as well as personal narratives for understanding the benefits of intergenerational programming.

3) Hatton-Yeo, Alan, and Clare Batty. “Evaluating the Contribution of Intergenerational Practice to Achieving Social Cohesion.” Promoting Social Cohesion: Implications for Policy and Evaluation, edited by Peter Ratcliffe and Ines Newman, 1st ed., Bristol University Press, Bristol, UK; Portland, OR, USA, 2011, pp. 243–258. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt9qgw9s.18. Accessed 6 Feb. 2020.

This article focuses on “intergenerational solidarity,” meaning the feeling of a sense of identity formed by close family ties which provides as strong foundation for identification. This solidarity helps to facilitate mutual support in intergenerational relationships. This article also claims that the economic relationship is another important facet of intergenerational relationships. In order to promote this idea of social solidarity and community relationships, there needs to be more social and economic equality instead of cultural unity, claims sociologist Natalia Letki. Co-authors Alan Hatton-Yeo and Clare Batty state that this is one important factor of why intergenerational relationships have worsened in the 21st century. Their list of reasons includes: economic changes that separate marginalized communities, the erosion of family structures, a weakened sense of community, especially amongst young people, and more young men growing up disaffected from society.

They do not focus on one study, but rather look at already established intergenerational programs throughout the world and the results gathered from them. These programs include intergenerational volunteering, programs to promote safe community relationships, programs to promote active aging and improved health, and programs to support young people. They claim that these programs help to develop social capital (“defined as an increase in networks, trust or reciprocity”) because they benefit both young and old members of society and make them more involved and impactful in their communities (250).

Overall, this article aims to serve as a basis for looking at the problems affecting intergenerational relationships and the effects of certain programs. They claim that, although intergenerational programming has become more popular, “the number of documented assessments and published evaluation studies … is relatively small” (255). This is important to note because it shows that these relationships and programs are happening, but they can be recorded and disseminated more. This study aims to do that, start a more cohesive dialogue, and also bring light to this issue by illuminating the importance of intergenerational relationships.

Tertiary Sources:

We have yet to identify any tertiary sources.

Bibliography

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George, Daniel R. “Intergenerational Volunteering and Quality of Life: Mixed Methods Evaluation of a Randomized Control Trial Involving Persons with Mild to Moderate Dementia.” Quality of Life Research, vol. 20, no. 7, 2011, pp. 987–995. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/41488817.

Hartman-Stein, Paula E., and Asenath. LaRue. Enhancing Cognitive Fitness in Adults A Guide to the Use and Development of Community-Based Programs . 1. ed. New York, NY: Springer New York, 2011.

Hatton-Yeo, Alan, and Clare Batty. “Evaluating the Contribution of Intergenerational Practice to Achieving Social Cohesion.” Promoting Social Cohesion: Implications for Policy and Evaluation, edited by Peter Ratcliffe and Ines Newman, 1st ed., Bristol University Press, Bristol, UK; Portland, OR, USA, 2011, pp. 243–258. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt9qgw9s.18.

Kaplan, Matthew S. “Intergenerational Programs in Schools: Considerations of Form and Function.” International Review of Education / Internationale Zeitschrift Für Erziehungswissenschaft / Revue Internationale De L’Education, vol. 48, no. 5, 2002, pp. 305–334. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3445459.

Nauck, Bernhard, and Anja Steinbach. “Intergenerational Relationships.” Building on Progress: Expanding the Research Infrastructure for the Social, Economic, and Behavioral Sciences, by German Data Forum (RatSWD), 1st ed., Verlag Barbara Budrich, Opladen; Farmington Hills, 2010, pp. 1057–1080. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvbkk43d.67.

Shanas, Ethel et al. Social Structure and the Family: Generational Relations. Englewood Cliffs, N.J: Prentice-Hall, 1965. Print.

Wykle, May L., Peter J. Whitehouse, and Diana L. Morris. Successful Aging through the Life Span Intergenerational Issues in Health. New York: Springer Pub. Co., 2005. Print.

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