Transgenerational health promotion

The Adult Health and Development Program (AHDP) is an intergenerational, interdisciplinary health promotion and rehabilitation program in which nursing and other college students are paired with older adults to engage in activities to improve their health and well-being. The purpose of this article is to describe resources and strategies used to implement a new program. The University of Delaware's program uses the ACAEM Paradigm developed by the AHDP at the University of Maryland where the program has existed for 27 years. However, the University of Delaware emphasizes the concepts of transition as described by Schumacher and Meleis and adult learning theory. Older adults are often the most open to education and other forms of support when they need help in making a change or transition in their lives. Schumacher and Meleis contend that transitions are a central concept in nursing and propose a model of transition in which education is the primary modality for preparing for transitions. The model also specifies ways to measure desirable transition outcomes.