Impact of a Nonfamilial Intergenerational Program with a Mobile Application on College Students’ Attitudes toward Older Adults in Taiwan

Objective: This study examined young adult tutors' experience in a nonfamilial intergenerational program with older adults with diabetes. The Intergenerational Mobile Technology Opportunities Program (IMTOP) is an 8-week intervention designed to help older adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus learn to monitor their diabetes symptoms using a mobile app; college students provide technical support to the older adults. Method: We analyzed written notes and reports generated by 146 college students who participated as technology support tutors in the IMTOP program in Taiwan. Findings: Tutors improved their understanding of the aging process and older adults and developed a newfound appreciation of the older generation. With improved empathy for aging populations, their stigmatization of older adults decreased. Furthermore, positive interfamilial interactions between tutors and the older participants extended to intrafamilial interactions in tutors' families. Tutors expressed a desire for career development in the aging industry after graduation. Conclusion: IMTOP improved ageist stereotypes as well as kinship and nonkinship intergenerational relationships among young adults. The program also helped young adults to develop career interests in aging-related industries. A more structured student-older adult information technology curriculum is needed to better understand the impact of future intergenerational programs on participants.