Planning for contact between the generations: an effective approach

A program for preschoolers and elders was designed to promote three types of prosocial behavior in the children: sharing, cooperating, and helping. The program used five types of contact: contact with natural grandparents in the preschool, regular elderly volunteers in the preschool, competent elderly visitors who shared their expertise, contact with less able elders through regular visits to a nursing home, and classroom activities providing positive and realistic information about older people and aging. The program resulted in increased prosocial behaviors in the children.