College Students and Institutionalized Elderly:

An experimental study was conducted to determine if person-to-person interaction between college students and frail and impaired elderly nursing home residents would have any effect on the college students' attitudes toward old people in general. Results indicated that, within the specific situational context of shared recreational games and activities, college student/institutionalized elderly interaction led to more positive evaluations of the aged on the part of the students. However, a comparison of treatment and control groups 12 weeks after the termination of the intergenerational recreation indicated no long-term effects on either attitudes toward, or frequency of involvement with, persons 70 years of age or older.