Patient and Public Involvement in Action: Shaping an Intergenerational Engagement Intervention in a Long-Term Care...

To shape an intergenerational engagement (IE) intervention through consultation with a patient and public involvement (PPI) group.

This paper describes how PPI contributed to refining an IE intervention within a long-term care facility in China.

A PPI group composed of key stakeholders, including older residents of the long-term care facility, young people from a local school, a parent, and care facility staff, provided evaluative feedback. They reviewed and refined various aspects of the intervention (content, scheduling and delivery of the intergenerational activities) and its evaluation (design, recruitment strategies and study materials).

Key modifications included adjusting activities to accommodate diverse backgrounds and technological capabilities, space limitations and the number of participants to optimise engagement and focusing on group activities to encourage lively and inclusive interactions. The group also made recommendations relating to scheduling sessions, length of intervention and recruitment materials to facilitate greater accessibility.

The integration of PPI made the IE intervention practical, culturally relevant and tailored to meet the diverse needs of older and younger participants, enhancing its feasibility, acceptability and overall effectiveness. The findings underscore the importance of early and continuous PPI in health and social care research to develop relevant and sustainable interventions. Future efforts should focus on policy support, funding and education to embed PPI more broadly into health and social care research in China.

Feedback was sought from a patient and public involvement (PPI) group to refine and enhance the intergenerational engagement (IE) intervention, ensuring it accurately reflected the needs of participants. Notably, to the best of the authors' knowledge, this study is the first in China to utilise PPI in the co-design of an IE intervention in a long-term care setting, offering valuable insights for future research and practice in this context.