Cyber School for Grandparents: an Intergenerational Educational Program

NCT05135819 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 04
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 120
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Social participation and social relationships are relevant aspects of older adult's psychosocial well-being. In this regard, specific interest is devoted to Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) which enable to connect people and to support their social participation. Despite the number of older Internet users constantly increased in the last decades, older adults still display reduced Internet access compared to younger generations. Italian elderly people are severely penalized by this "gray digital divide". The pandemia due to COVID-19 spread has exasperated the situation, leading to the paradox of having people putatively most beneficent of use as those most excluded, due to scanty of competencies and of suitable and agreeable learning occasions. The Cyber School for Grandparents is an innovative intergenerational educational program aimed to bridge the digital divide by training secondary school students (aged 15-17 years) to become cyber tutors for their grandparents. The intervention will take place during the 2021/2022 school year, as part of the curricular activities of 3 classes at the local Human Science High School. The intervention was designed to be personalized and inclusive, in order to meet the need of each student-senior dyad, regardless of their starting digital skills and attitudes toward technology. The primary aim of the present mixed-method feasibility study is to qualitatively evaluate students' participation and learning throughout the course and to measure grandparents' pre-post changes in mobile device actual use, self-reported proficiency and attitudes. Secondly, eventual pre-post changes on aging stereotypes and psychosocial well-being of the participants will be explored.

Conditions

Intergenerational Relations; Aging Well

Keywords

Educational intervention; Digital divide; Social inclusion; Technology use; Old adults; Intergenerational relations; Learning

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Digital literacy (seniors)

  Mobile Device Proficiency Questionnaire Short Form (MDPQ-SF): self report, 16 items on the 5 dimensions of the European digital competence framework evaluated on a 5-point Likert scale (range: 16-80)

  5 months

• Attitude toward Internet use (seniors)

  Attitude Toward Computer/Internet Use Questionnaire (ATCQ): self report, 15 items measuring 5 attitude dimensions (comfort, efficacy, interest) toward Internet use on a 5-point Likert scale (range: 15-75)

  5 months

Secondary Outcomes (2)

• Psychosocial well-being (students and seniors)

  6 months

• Aging stereotype (students)

  6 months

Other Outcomes (3)

• Students participation

  4 months

• Students learning

  4 months

• Seniors mobile device actual use changes

  4 months

Study Arms (1)

Intergenerational educational program

EXPERIMENTAL

Behavioral: Cyber School for Grandparents

Interventions

Cyber School for Grandparents BEHAVIORAL

Educational program for secondary school students to become cyber tutors for their grandparents or for senior citizens, who are interested to learn new digital use and skills.

Intergenerational educational program

Eligibility Criteria

• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17), Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• For students: attending one of the 3 classes involved in the project
• For seniors: be a grandparents of the students involved and willing to participate in the initiative.
• However, context information on these relevant aspects will be collected and reported, since they are well-known factors affecting technology use among older adults.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Antonio Guaita, MD: lead
• University of Milano Bicocca: collaborator
• Catholic University of the Sacred Heart: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Golgi Cenci Foundation

Abbiategrasso, Milan, 20081, Italy

Location

Related Publications (7)

• Nef T, Ganea RL, Muri RM, Mosimann UP. Social networking sites and older users - a systematic review. Int Psychogeriatr. 2013 Jul;25(7):1041-53. doi: 10.1017/S1041610213000355. Epub 2013 Apr 4.

  PMID: 23552297 BACKGROUND

• Ibarra F, Baez M, Cernuzzi L, Casati F. A Systematic Review on Technology-Supported Interventions to Improve Old-Age Social Wellbeing: Loneliness, Social Isolation, and Connectedness. J Healthc Eng. 2020 Jul 12;2020:2036842. doi: 10.1155/2020/2036842. eCollection 2020.

  PMID: 32765823 BACKGROUND

• Forsman AK, Nordmyr J, Matosevic T, Park AL, Wahlbeck K, McDaid D. Promoting mental wellbeing among older people: technology-based interventions. Health Promot Int. 2018 Dec 1;33(6):1042-1054. doi: 10.1093/heapro/dax047.

  PMID: 28973587 BACKGROUND

• Roque NA, Boot WR. A New Tool for Assessing Mobile Device Proficiency in Older Adults: The Mobile Device Proficiency Questionnaire. J Appl Gerontol. 2018 Feb;37(2):131-156. doi: 10.1177/0733464816642582. Epub 2016 Apr 11.

  PMID: 27255686 BACKGROUND

• Rolandi E, Vaccaro R, Abbondanza S, Casanova G, Pettinato L, Colombo M, Guaita A. Loneliness and Social Engagement in Older Adults Based in Lombardy during the COVID-19 Lockdown: The Long-Term Effects of a Course on Social Networking Sites Use. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 Oct 28;17(21):7912. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17217912.

  PMID: 33126634 BACKGROUND

• Jay GM, Willis SL. Influence of direct computer experience on older adults' attitudes toward computers. J Gerontol. 1992 Jul;47(4):P250-7. doi: 10.1093/geronj/47.4.p250.

  PMID: 1624702 BACKGROUND

• Keyes CL. The mental health continuum: from languishing to flourishing in life. J Health Soc Behav. 2002 Jun;43(2):207-22.

  PMID: 12096700 BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Social Inclusion

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Social Behavior; Behavior

Study Officials

• Elena Rolandi, MSc

  Fondazione Golgi Cenci

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NA
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: SINGLE GROUP
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: MD

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: November 2, 2021
• First Posted: November 26, 2021
• Study Start: October 14, 2021
• Primary Completion: June 7, 2022
• Study Completion: June 7, 2022
• Last Updated: September 13, 2023

Record last verified: 2023-09

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

IT (1)