Promoting older adults’ wellbeing in meaningful intergenerational learning contexts

The mechanisms through which intergenerational learning promotes older adults’ wellbeing can be examined through several interrelated dimensions. First, sustained and meaningful intergenerational interactions can strengthen older adults’ social connectedness and sense of belonging, alleviate feelings of social isolation, and encourage their participation in community activities and social life. Second, when older adults have opportunities to share their life wisdom, traditional skills, and cultural experiences and receive recognition, respect, and positive feedback from younger generations, these interactions can not only reinforce their sense of self-worth but also highlight their contributions to knowledge transmission and intergenerational connectedness, thereby strengthening their sense of purpose in life and generativity. Finally, through activities such as life-storytelling, collaborative creative endeavors, and experiential exchange, older adults can reinterpret their life trajectories, integrate past experiences with their present self-understanding, and develop a more coherent understanding of and expectations for the future. These processes may, in turn, deepen their sense of meaning in life and enhance their psychological fulfillment and overall wellbeing. Taken together, these mechanisms are closely aligned with the central concerns of health psychology, particularly social relationships, psychological wellbeing, meaning in life, and healthy aging. Intergenerational learning can therefore be understood not only as an educational practice that fosters intergenerational exchange and cultural transmission but also as an important avenue for investigating older adults’ psychological wellbeing and healthy aging.