Intergenerational Program Design Recommendations for Arts Organizations Hannah Bastian Presented to the Arts and Administration Program in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Science in Arts Management University of Oregon June 2017 iii Acknowledgements With gratitude, I thank Dr. Patricia Dewey Lambert, Arts and Administration Director of Graduate Studies, for her guidance and support throughout this process. I am fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with someone so knowledgeable and deeply involved in the field of Arts and Healthcare. I could not have imagined a better advisor. Similarly, I would like to thank Lisa Abia-Smith, Director of Education and Outreach at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, for her support as a supervisor and mentor. It has been a joy to learn and grow professionally at the museum under her guidance. I would also like to thank Elizabeth Lokon of Opening Minds through Art, Anne Basting of TimeSlips, Amy Henderson of the Geezer Gallery, and Jennie Smith-Peers of the National Center for Creative Aging for generously taking the time to complete interviews. Finally, I am forever grateful to my parents, John and Jana Bastian, for always remaining a source of optimism, joy and unwavering support. iv Abstract Hannah Bastian Master of Science in Arts Management Arts and Administration Program University of Oregon June 2017 Title: Intergenerational Program Design Recommendations for Arts Organizations Intergenerational art programs bridge generations while inspiring the creative process. Although projects involving participants of different generations have been in existence for centuries, the development of intergenerational arts program design for nonprofits, museums, and senior centers is relatively new. In this new field, recent research has been promising, revealing improved health and social outcomes for older adults participating in arts programs and an increased understanding of aging for youth participating in intergenerational programs. The purpose of this study is to understand the program design behind current, exemplary examples of intergenerational arts programs. This study investigated three organizations, seeking out overarching themes and key elements. Three organizations were highlighted as case studies: Opening Minds through Art (OMA), TimeSlips, and the Geezer Gallery. Each case study provided a unique style of program design, based upon their community, resources, and needs. These case studies were used to inform a set of recommendations for beginning an intergenerational arts program. This project builds upon existing research covering the impact of lifelong learning, intergenerational programs, and arts programs for both children and older adults. It serves as a reference point for professionals in the field of Arts and Healthcare, marking current, key organizations offering intergenerational arts programs alongside program design recommendations. Keywords: ageism, Baby Boomer, co-creation, intergenerational, lifelong learning, service learning v Table of Contents Project Approval Page .................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ iii Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... iv Chapter One: Introduction to Research ..................................................................................... 1 Statement of Purpose .................................................................................................................. 2 Research Questions ..................................................................................................................... 3 Definitions ................................................................................................................................... 3 Selection of Sites and Participants .............................................................................................. 5 Data Collection and Analysis Procedures ................................................................................... 6 Recruitment Letters and Scripts .................................................................................................. 6 Methodological Paradigm ........................................................................................................... 6 Role of the Researcher ................................................................................................................ 7 Conceptual Framework ............................................................................................................... 7 Limitations and Delimitations ..................................................................................................... 9 Chapter Two: Literature Review .............................................................................................. 10 Role of Museums ...................................................................................................................... 10 Intergenerational Learning ........................................................................................................ 14 Evaluations and Benefits ........................................................................................................... 16 Chapter Three: Case Studies ..................................................................................................... 20 Opening Minds through Art (OMA) ......................................................................................... 21 TimeSlips .................................................................................................................................. 26 Geezer Gallery and Bridge Meadows ....................................................................................... 32 Chapter Four: Conclusions ........................................................................................................ 41 Service Learning ....................................................................................................................... 42 Storytelling ................................................................................................................................ 43 Co-creation ................................................................................................................................ 45 Facilitator Trainings .................................................................................................................. 46 Recommendations ..................................................................................................................... 47 Avenues for Future Research .................................................................................................... 49 References .................................................................................................................................... 54 Appendices ................................................................................................................................... 57 Recruitment Letter .................................................................................................................... 57 Consent Form ............................................................................................................................ 58 Interview Questions .................................................................................................................. 59 1 Chapter One: Introduction to Research Arts programs are in the process of expanding to serve a demographic which has widely been ignored: older adults. This new area of focus for arts organizations has been referred to as “Creative Aging”, a component of “Lifelong Learning”. Many organizations have begun to create programs to serve this demographic. Often these programs focus on memory loss and/or utilizing the arts to regain physical control, for example to reduce falls. Other programs have been created to focus on the overall wellbeing of older adults. Intergenerational programs fall into this final category. Intergenerational arts programs are a subset of Creative Aging. The National Center for Creative Aging (NCCA) defines Intergenerational Learning in their Manual for Artist Training in Arts and Aging as something that “refers to any program in which multiple generations engage in the same learning experience. Formally, it is defined as activities that increase interaction, cooperation, or exchange between any two generations” (National Center for Creative Aging, 2013, p. 45). They explain that this learning can take various forms: adults serving youth, youth serving adults, or a shared experience. Generations United, a leading advocate for intergenerational work in the United States, describes intergenerational programs in their 2007 fact sheet, stating: “These programs purposefully bring together people of different generations in ongoing, mutually beneficial, planned activities, designed to achieve specified program goals. Through intergenerational programs people of all ages share their talents and resources, supporting each other in relationships that benefit both the individuals and the community… Young and old are viewed as assets not problems to be solved” (Generations United, 2007). Intergenerational arts programs offer benefits to older adults, youth and the broader community. Older adults benefit from increased socialization, reducing isolation and increased 2 emotional support. Further, intergenerational programs have been found to stimulate learning and improve the overall physical and psychological health of adult participants (National Center for Creative Aging, 2013, pp. 47-48). Youth also experience a variety of benefits from taking part in intergenerational arts programs. These benefits include improved academic performance, enhanced social skills, decreased negative behavior, increased stability, more positive attitudes toward aging and the elderly, and increased empathy toward those with physical and/or cognitive disabilities (National Center for Creative Aging, 2013, p. 47). Finally, the community benefits from the implementation of these programs, as they have been found to inspire collaboration, encourage cultural exchange, and to strengthen community (National Center for Creative Aging, 2013, p. 46). Statement of Purpose The purpose of this study was to analyze current models of intergenerational arts program design in order to create recommendations for organizations to add an intergenerational component into pre-existing arts programs. In this study I conducted a comparative case study analysis of existing intergenerational programs, focusing on their program design. I interviewed program directors who served as key informants to the study. Additionally, I observed one intergenerational program in-depth by attending the program in action, observing the participants and conducting in-person interviews. 3 Research Questions This study investigates the following question: What are current models of intergenerational arts program design? It also investigates the following sub-questions: How has co-creation been used in correlation with intergenerational arts programming? How can storytelling be woven into the process of co-creation and intergenerational arts programming? How can current models of intergenerational program design be integrated into existing arts programs which do not currently serve older adults? Which organizations are key strategic partners for intergenerational arts programs? Definitions Ageism - “Stereotyping and discrimination against individuals or groups on the basis of their age; ageism can take many forms, including prejudicial attitudes, discriminatory practices, or institutional policies and practices that perpetuate stereotypical beliefs” (World Health Organization Report on Ageing and Health, 2015, p. 229). Intergenerational – “Any program in which multiple generations engage in the same learning experience. Formally, it is defined as activities that increase interaction, cooperation, or exchange between any two generations” (National Center for Creative Aging, 2013, p. 45). 4 Baby Boomer – “Americans born between the years 1946 and 1964” (The Older Population, 2011, p. 4). Co-creation – “The joint creation of an artifact, service, value system, or experience” (Mehrpouya, Maxwell, & Zamora, 2013, p. 172). Lifelong Learning – Formal and informal opportunities throughout life which allow for the growth and development of knowledge and skills. “Lifelong learning has a horizontal as well as a vertical dimension—its comprehensiveness embraces learning that occurs in every aspect of life, at work, in the home, at leisure, at play” (Field & Leicester, 2002, p. 13). Service Learning – “A form of experiential education in which students engage in activities that address human and community needs together with structured opportunities intentionally designed to promote student learning and development. Reflection and reciprocity are key concepts in service learning” (Jacoby, 1996, p. 5). Research Design: In order to learn more about the current models of intergenerational arts program design, I conducted a comparative case study analysis of four current intergenerational programs. The study examined three intergenerational arts programs across the nation through key informant interviews alongside website and document analysis. Additionally, one intergenerational arts program in the Pacific Northwest was analyzed in depth through on-site interviews and participant observation. 5 Key informants were recruited through recruitment letters which explained the study and why they were chosen to participate. Interviews were conducted in February and March while analysis took place throughout April. Human subjects protocol was followed for all aspects of data collection and analysis. Selection of Sites and Participants The case study locations were chosen through examining compiled lists of current intergenerational programs from the National Center of Creative Aging and Generations United. The organizations were selected based on the following criteria: located in the United States, programs that are both arts-based and intergenerational, and programs that have been running longer than two years. Programs in existence for longer than two years were chosen as a marker of program fitness. Programs supporting an environment which leads to a shared experience were prioritized over those that were one-directional, for example those in which adults only served youth or youth only served adults. From that list, the sites chosen were selected based on prominence in the field and relevance to my research question and sub questions. Program directors were chosen as key informants for interviews. The decision to interview program directors was chosen as the focus of this study is program design, and many directors have a strong understanding of the design supporting their programs. Directors also can offer a perspective on staffing needed to implement these programs and also offer information on the key partnerships they have found in the community. 6 Data Collection and Analysis Procedures I collected data through interviews, participant observation, and website and document analysis. Data from interviews was recorded in two ways. First, it was captured using an audio recording device. Second, I took handwritten notes throughout the interview. Similarly, participant observation data was collected through the use of audio recording and note taking. Website and document analysis was collected through note taking. Recruitment Letters and Scripts The recruitment letter (Appendix A) was sent to key informants to provide information about the study, why it is being conducted, and why they have been selected. The version displayed in Appendix A was adapted with appropriate revisions when sent to each potential interviewee. Methodological Paradigm I viewed my research through an interpretivist lens. An interpretivist framework requires a study that is qualitative in nature. O’Leary (2010) defines a qualitative research paradigm as “an approach to understanding and studying the world that rejects positivist ‘rules’ and works at interpreting the world through multiple lenses” (p. 354). My research involves relying upon the personal viewpoints of executive directors through interviews and my own perception through participant observation. 7 Role of the Researcher I recognize that my history working with older adults and with arts programming may create a bias in my work. Additionally, I deeply believe in the need for arts-based programs. I believe that these programs must be held to a high standard in order to properly serve that need. Because of this, it is very important that I set my biases aside and critically view the interviews and participant observation in my research. This critical viewpoint will allow me to view current program design from a more accurate perspective. Conceptual Framework I have created a schematic to conceptualize the theoretical framework of my research (Figure 1). This visual represents my research topic, intergenerational arts programming, as the central planet. The space around the planet represents the context which informs this topic: demographics. The four moons represent the components always working in tandem with the larger planet. The moons are Arts in Healthcare, Arts in Community Health, Arts Education, and Lifelong Learning. The rings encompassing the planet represent program design, the element I will focus on most. Program design is further divided into methods, staffing, and collaboration with partner organizations. 8 Figure 1, Conceptual Map Intergenerational Arts Programs Demographics Arts in Healthcare Arts in Community Health Lifelong Learning Arts Education Program Design: - Methods - Staffing - Partner organizations 9 Limitations and Delimitations The most prominent limitation of this study was time. Time limitations required my research to include focusing on three programs only. As three of these programs are located far from my current location, those interviews took place virtually, over Skype or telephone. Additionally, I was limited in program selection as intergenerational arts programs are less common than other types of arts programming. Additionally, my project is delimitated by focusing on three organizations for interviewing and one more organization for an in-depth case study. Because the study is limited to the organizations I consider to be strong examples of intergenerational arts programs, the findings cannot be generalized to all intergenerational programs. The qualitative nature of my study also created a limitation, as the data may have been interpreted differently by another researcher. 10 Chapter Two: Literature Review Introduction This research focuses on the intergenerational component of program design within arts organizations. This topic lies at the intersection of arts education, lifelong learning, and museum or arts nonprofit program design. The primary goal of this chapter is to explore program design models while delving into the current state of the field for lifelong learning and intergenerational arts programs. This will involve exploring the current role of the museum in society, the current results of intergenerational programs and studies, and the value of art making throughout the aging process. The key articles chosen for review are the Arts and Humanities Research Council’s Cultural Value Project, Elders Share the Arts article “Learning by Heart: Intergenerational Theater Arts”, a white paper from The National Center of Creative Aging and the National Endowment for the Arts: “The Arts and Human Development”, Art in Psychology’s article titled “Art Therapy in Art Museums: Promoting Social Connectedness and Psychological Well-being of Older Adults”, The Journal of Museum Education’s article “Museum Education and Art Therapy: Promoting Wellness in Older Adults”. Role of Museums Recent articles are in agreement that the role of museums is changing. It is changing from an environment that offers viewers a passive glimpse into historical pieces of art, to an interactive space which requests active participation from attendees. Further, art museums are beginning to take on a role as “agents of well-being” (Rosenblatt, 2014, p. 293). Museums are 11 increasingly becoming venues for mental health support. “They can provide opportunities for self-development, spiritual and artistic growth, and social connection. Furthermore, museums offer potential for life review, non-verbal expression, choice-making, and inspire reflections upon the past and present. The museum offers potential therapeutic opportunities such as a safe space, acceptance of uniqueness and celebration of differences, imparting of information, and installation of hope” (Bennington, 2015, p. 34). This transition has led to many museums across the United States creating programs to serve a variety of populations, including older adults. One particularly notable program is Meet Me at MoMA, the Museum of Modern Art’s Alzheimer’s Project with the goal of “making art accessible to people with dementia” (Meet Me at MoMA, n.d.). The Meet Me at MoMA model has been replicated and adapted in museums across the nation. Most museums programs for older adults are structured in similar ways regardless of the cognitive level of the older adults. Most programs include an initial walk through the gallery that includes focused conversation around an average of three pieces of art. The conversations in front of these pieces of art are seated, most often using folding chairs. While the program can take place during regular museum hours, many take place when the museum is closed. Rosenblatt explains her reasoning for structuring The Creative Aging program at the Philips Collection in Washington D.C. to take place during off hours. She states that the closed museum “creates an intimate atmosphere where individuals feel more comfortable expressing their feelings and sharing their stories” (Rosenblatt, 2014, p. 296). The facilitation of conversation varies in style across programs. Some of this variance is due to the needs of the participants while other aspects simply reflect difference in styles and methods. Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS), a facilitation method developed by Abigail Housen 12 and Philip Yenawine, examines artwork in a straight-forward way while the facilitator remains impartial. This method of facilitation involves only three questions: 1.) What's going on in this picture? 2.) What do you see that makes you say that? 3.) What more can we find? (Visual Thinking Strategies, n.d.). Other programs have taken a different approach, choosing questions that evoke emotions, stir memories, and spark conversations. Brooke Rosenblatt describes the evolution of The Creative Aging program stating that the program initially utilized “tested inquiry techniques to engage the audience” but that they chose to adapt this style after only a few months, collaborating with the art therapist to “draft questions that would encourage individuals to explore their feelings and share their stories”. These discussions were structured around a theme such as “experimentation” or “collaboration”. The questions vary from session to session, but may include questions like “Does anything in this painting feel familiar to you? Do any of the details remind you of your own life?” and “What emotions is the figure in the painting expressing?” Participants are sometimes asked to imitate the facial expression and pose of the depicted figure and to reflect upon how this makes them feel (Rosenblatt, 2014, pp. 296-298). After art viewing and conversation, most programs include an art making session. This session sometimes takes place in the gallery, directly in front of the artwork. Other programs use a studio or conference room to support the artwork creation. This process gives participants an opportunity to personally reflect upon the conversations and artwork from the gallery. Many programs include a group discussion after artwork creation as well. Philosophers Alan de Botton and John Armstrong have supported the notion that museums can be supportive, therapeutic environments. The propose that art can “help guide, exhort and console its viewers, enabling them to become better versions of themselves” (de 13 Botton & Armstrong, 2013, p. 5). They offer seven therapeutic functions of viewing art: remembering, hope, sorrow, rebalancing, self-understanding, growth, and appreciation. Building upon these functions is the 2015 study, Art Therapy in Art Museums: Promoting Social Connectedness and Psychological Well-being of Older Adults. This study asked if the functions proposed by de Botton and Armstrong could be observed in the art reflected by older adults visiting an art museum with an art therapist. They proposed that the museum setting may “help older adults reduce loneliness as well as support reminiscence and other psychological needs” (Bennington, Backos, Harrison, Reader & Carolan, 2015, p. 34). The study analyzed eight older adult from an assisted living facility in Northern California. All adults met the criteria of: self-reported feelings of loneliness or wish to increase social connections, physical ability to travel, and willing and able to make art (p. 35). The group met four times at an art gallery with an art therapist. In addition to engaging in conversation and creating art, most participants kept a journal to reflect on their experiences in the program. The researchers discovered that de Botton and Armstrong’s (2013) seven therapeutic functions of viewing art were reflected within every session. Further, they noticed that the group bonded over the sessions. “The discussions were light-hearted in the beginning and as the group progressed, disclosure of more intimate experiences grew inciting empathy, relatedness, and evocative conversation amongst the group members … Participants were able to reflect upon their past difficult circumstances, and derive meaning through how they were able to learn, accept, persevere, and adapt” (Bennington et al., 2015, p. 41). 14 Intergenerational Learning Carmen Hernandez (2008) reflects upon our changing worldview of old age in her article, “Effects of Intergenerational Interaction on Aging”. She notes that the attitude toward old age is often negative. With this negative perspective, elderly individuals in current society tend to be isolated, often considered incompetent and denied responsibilities. This is in contrast with previous societies in which the eldest members were considered of a higher status, having gained wisdom from their experience. In the past, the oldest members of society were considered the teachers and the holders of customs and traditions. The shifting viewpoint from aging as gaining wisdom to aging as losing mental and physical capacities is reflected through the way the young and old alike view old age. “Young people, even children, are particularly negative with old people, considering them pessimistic, conservative, and petulant” (p. 293). While older adults themselves are often “slightly depressed and tend to consider themselves less productive than they really are” (p. 293). Henandez notes that positive attitudes about aging were carried out in the past through the family. Currently, American values of individualism lead many young people on a path of forging their own way, moving away from family and striving toward independence. This independence often means less interaction between generations of same family than societies experienced previously. This lack of connection furthers stereotypes of the young and old alike and further polarizes the two communities. Intergenerational learning offers a bridge between generational gaps. These programs bring together two groups of people who likely would have had little interaction otherwise. While intergenerational programs by definition only need to involve groups of individuals from at least two different generations, they most often involve a groups of adults over the age of 65 15 interacting with a much younger generation. Typically, this younger generation ranges in age from young children to college students. The National Center for Creative Aging states that “intergenerational learning can take three main forms: youth serving elders, elders serving youth or a joint or shared experience” (National Center of Creative Aging, n.d., p. 45). Studies have found wide-ranging benefits from intergenerational programs. Generations United Fact Sheet on The Benefits of Intergenerational Programs offer a list of benefits for older adult, the younger learner and the broader community. Among the benefits listed for older adults are enhanced socialization, stimulated learning, increased emotional support and improved health. Benefits for youth include improved academic performance, enhanced social skills, decreased negative behavior, increased stability, more positive attitudes toward aging and elderly, and increased empathy for understanding physical and cognitive disabilities. Additionally, intergenerational programs provide resources help alleviate the gaps in services for both children and older adults. Generations United notes the need for tutors and mentors for children, which older adults can provide. They note that older adults are in need of more innovative and engaging adult care programs which support older adults varying needs. Intergenerational programs create an environment where “young and old are viewed as assets and not problems to be solved” (p. 1). Elders Share the Art (ESTA), an organization out of New York City, offers a program which pairs a group of older adults with fifth graders. They meet once a week to take part in guided acting sessions based on the life experiences and memories of participants. Each year, they focus on a different theme. They periodically perform at the senior center and the elementary school. The article “Learning by Heart: Intergenerational Theater Arts” offers personal reflections from the older adult participants. Irving, a 92-year-old participant of five 16 years, reflects “I believe in the importance of sharing stories from our growing-up period with the children. They are interested listeners. The arts foster connection and rekindle memories and dreams. Forgotten experiences resurface easily. For both the children and ourselves, it is a good reminder of our inner riches” (p. 151). Another participant, Rose, states, “I didn’t think I had anything in common with children. My own childhood was violent and devoid of love. But interacting with these children, I have learned to love myself more” (p. 152). Evaluations and Benefits Before diving into the benefits of various art forms on older adults, it is important to note the challenges many arts and health organizations face in evaluation. While some therapeutic studies can primarily use quantitative data from standard clinical scales and vital sign tests, many studies require a qualitative approach to reveal the larger picture. For example, the English National Ballet’s Dance for Parkinson’s intervention revealed very little improvement of the dance group over the control group utilizing standard clinical scales (with the exception of a possible increase in postural stability), the qualitative interview data revealed that the dancers and those around them reported improvements in fluency, balance and gait. These components were not measured in formalized tests (Farrell, 2016, p. 102). The AHRC Cultural Value Project highlights the fact that studies concerning mental health add a layer of complexity to the evaluation process. It is very important that these studies include qualitative data. Farrell (2016) notes that “above all, arts and health is about complex phenomena and complex interventions, even in what might appear to be straight-forward therapies. It is, therefore, hardly surprising that evaluation and evidence present significant challenges” (p. 101). In other words, “complex interventions make it difficult to isolate an 17 intervention and its impact” (p. 103). Various methods are needed in order to triangulate the full scope of an impact. The majority of the studies highlighted here have utilized both quantitative and qualitative data. According to the National Endowment for the Arts (2011), studies have consistently revealed that participation in arts programs leads to improved behavioral, social, and cognitive outcomes for individuals at all stages of life. Neuroscience research has shown strong connection between arts learning and improved cognitive development. Small group studies have shown that arts participation has contributed to increased school-readiness for children. Longitudinal data has revealed positive academic and social outcomes for at-risk teens engaged in arts programs. Studies have shown improved cognitive functioning and self-reported improved quality of life for older adults engaged in arts and creative activities (p. 7). The National Endowment for the Arts (2011) further outlines specific benefits for youth and older adults. Students involved in the arts have shown improved academic performance alongside improved behavior. Low-income students involved in arts are more likely than non- arts engaged students to attend college, obtain employment, and volunteer. Arts-engaged students also demonstrate stronger language skills than their non-engaged peers. Older adults in choral programs have reported better physical health, fewer medical visits, less medication use, and fewer health problems than their peers (p. 8). A 2006 study by Cohen, et al. also revealed that older adults in a choral program reported higher morale and less loneliness than a control group (National Endowment for the Arts, 2011, p. 24). A 2011 storytelling study revealed that older adults in a storytelling program experienced improved blood pressure in individuals with uncontrolled hypertension (National Endowment for the Arts, 2011, p. 25). Another storytelling study at TimeSlips produced results revealing those 18 involved in the storytelling process were more alert and engaged than their peers. These individuals also showed “a heightened degree of pleasure” and improved communication skills (National Endowment for the Arts, 2011, p. 26). Other studies have revealed the benefit of various other art forms, like dance. Tango classes for individuals with Parkinson’s have shown improved balance and gait alongside decreased falls (National Endowment for the Arts, 2011, p. 25). An intergenerational program which had older adults and medical students meet for four two-hour sessions at an art museum to create and discuss art revealed increased positive attitudes toward older adults in medical students (National Endowment for the Arts, 2011, p. 27). Arts Council of England created a 2007 initiative called Be Creative, Be Well. This project involved participatory dance activities, cooking and reminiscence projects, storytelling workshops, and theater workshops. The evaluation of the program revealed 76% of participants reported a increase in physical activity and 85% reported they were feeling more positive after taking part in the program (Farrell, 2016, p. 105). Studies have shown that individuals in the early stages of dementia benefit particularly from visiting art museums. Art museums have been shown to create a space that allows for recollection of memories, improvement in mood, increased feelings of normalcy, and feelings of belonging (Eekelar, Camic, & Springham, 2012). Creating folk art has been found to benefit older adults of all cognitive and physical abilities. It not only provides the creator with a sense of purpose, it also can provide a sense of community. Older adult participants in folk art programs have reported improved self esteem and communication skills (Azevedo, 2008). Folk arts allow older adults to act as keepers of tradition. 19 Sharing these traditions with younger generations creates a space for intergenerational collaboration and conversations. All of these studies reveal the positive impact arts programs can have on older adults and younger learners. These impacts encompass tangible results, like physical improvements in gait, and intangible results, like an improved sense of purpose and well-being. The majority of these studies are not intergenerational; most of these studies are researching the way arts programming impacts either older adults or children. The few studies that are intergenerational, such as the Carmen Hernandez study or the Elders Share the Arts report, have revealed promising results from intergenerational arts programs. Intergenerational programs have the ability to create the same benefits arts programs for older adults or children have, while adding a layer that fosters intergenerational understanding and rapport. Irving, a 92-year-old five-year participant of Elders Share the Arts eloquently reflects upon the power specific to intergenerational art programs in the 2013 article “Learning by Heart: Intergenerational Theater Arts”. She states: The intergenerational arts program made me aware that life goes on. Life continues, and you should be a part of it. We reach a certain level in life where acceptance and making adjustments is our way of staying engaged. I am always surprised by the depth of meaning that emerges from our group dramatizations and how the children enjoy working with us. The arts are a gentle and true guide (p. 151). 20 Chapter Three: Case Studies I chose three case studies to analyze. All three were chosen as they represent exemplary models of intergenerational program design. These organizations are: Opening Minds through Arts, located at the Scripps Genentology Center in Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, TimeSlips, located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and the Geezer Gallery, located in Portland, Oregon. Opening Minds through Art and TimeSlips were researched remotely, using academic articles and website analysis. The founders and directors of both organizations, Elizabeth Lokon of Opening Minds though Arts, and Anne Basting of TimeSlips were both interviewed over the phone in mid-April for this research project. The final organization, the Geezer Gallery located in Portland, was chosen as an in-depth case study. While the Geezer Gallery was also research using academic articles and website analysis, and the founder and director was also interviewed through email, this study also involved participant observation of their intergenerational pilot program. This intergenerational program is a partnership between the Geezer Gallery and Bridge Meadows, another leader in the field of intergenerational programs. Opening Minds through Art, TimeSlips, and Bridge Meadows were all recognized as a Program of Distinction by the leading intergenerational organization Generations United. Each of these organizations approaches intergenerational programming in a different way. Two of the organizations, Opening Minds through Art and TimeSlips, primarily serve individuals with dementia. The program at the Geezer Gallery primarily serves seniors without cognitive impairment or with mild cognitive impairment. Opening Minds through Art and the 21 Geezer Gallery both always include a visual arts aspect and a final product. TimeSlips and the Geezer Gallery include storytelling, and also both involve co-creation, whereas Opening Minds through Art involves neither storytelling nor co-creation. Each organization has adapted their program to serve the needs of their specific population in their community. Still, they all have a common goal: to change the way our society views aging and to build community. Opening Minds through Art (OMA), Oxford, OH Opening Minds through Art is an intergenerational arts program located at the Scripps Gerontology Center in Miami University. OMA received a Best Practice Award from LeadingAge Ohio in 2011, was featured as a model program by the National Center of Creative Aging in 2013 and was recognized as a Program of Distinction by Generations United in 2015 and was listed as a Quality Improvement Project by the Ohio Department of Aging in 2015 (Opening Minds through Art, n. d.). Opening Minds through Art was founded in 2007 by Dr. Elizabeth Lokon. The art program pairs student volunteers and elders with dementia in a 1:1 ratio. The pairs meet once a week for approximately 12 weeks, aligning with Miami University’s semester schedule. The partners created at the beginning remain throughout the semester. Maintaining the same partners from beginning to end allows friendships to form between the elders and students. The meetings take place at long-term care facilities and adult day centers and last approximately one hour. The art-making component takes up approximately 40 minutes while debriefing and sharing art with group lasts approximately 20 minutes. At the end of the 12 weeks, the program culminates in an public gallery exhibition. As of 2017, the program has been implemented in over 50 different 22 long-term care facilities, serving thousands of pairs of elders and student volunteers (ScrippsOMA.org). OMA distinguishes itself from other intergenerational arts programs in a few ways. It utilizes the universities and high schools to make this program a service-learning opportunity for students. Some of the student volunteers are earning credits toward their degrees while volunteering with OMA (Art Opens Seniors' Minds, 2014). Others join OMA as a club activity. This provides the program with consistent volunteers. The university and high schools continually provide students in need of service-learning experience. Although this does lead to some volunteer turnover taking place every 12 weeks, the benefits of having consistent volunteers seem to outweigh the challenges associated with turnover. Volunteers receive 3.5 to 4.5 hours of training before volunteering for the first time. This training teaches student volunteers to “assist, reassure, and encourage [people with dementia] to discover and express their creativity” (Lokon, Sauer, & Li, 2016, p. 14). The volunteers are trained to work with their elder partners in structured phases to create an environment which places participants in a state of “flow” (Sauer et al., 2016, p. 906). The psychological concept of “flow” was recognized and named by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in his 1991 book titled Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. In this book, Csikszentmihalyi outlines eight elements that make up a flow state. His three prerequisite components are: clarity of goals and immediate feedback, high level of concentration, and a balance between skills and challenge. The final five stages are: a feeling of control, effortlessness, an altered perception of time, and the melting together of action and consciousness. In order to create and facilitate a “flow state” for elder participants with dementia, volunteers are trained to interact with a nonverbal presence whenever possible. OMA suggests 23 that volunteers only speak and assist when necessary to guide the artist’s creative process. After the artwork has been created, the final 20 minutes of the session are used for conversation and sharing the artwork with the group (Sauer et al., 2016, p. 906). Another important component in maintaining a “flow state” is creating a space where elder artists experience a feeling of control. In order to create this sense of control, participants must be set up for success with the art activities and materials chosen. These activities need to both age-appropriate and appropriate for the participant’s ability level and cognitive level. Art activities for people with dementia are often simply adapted from arts and crafts lesson plans created for children. This is inappropriate and not ideal for two reasons. As Dr. Lokon states in Activities in dementia care: A comparative assessment of activity types (2016) “these activities tend to be both ‘childish’ and at the same time inappropriate because they require cognitive capacity that may already be severely impaired by neurocognitive decline” (p. 3). OMA responds to this challenge through creating abstract art. This style of art is “failure- free”; there is not a right or wrong way to complete it. Because of this, the elder artists are offered a greater amount of freedom. This diminishes the stress that can be associated with art creation when there is a perceived right or wrong way to create, or a specific end-product to make. It gives the artists the leeway to use colors and textures without restraint. This can lead to emotionally evocative artwork featuring unique colors and patterns. This freedom also allows volunteers to adapt projects that may not appropriately serve their partner’s motor skills. The student volunteer serve as guides who assist and encourage the elder artists, but do not complete the art for the artist. The sessions vary from week to week, introducing new projects to the elder artists. Each week includes different materials and painting techniques. These techniques are 24 chosen specifically to create a stress-free environment and to stimulate different senses for people with dementia (Sauer et al., 2016, pp. 898-899). Additionally, OMA was modeled after strength-based psychology and Kitwood’s philosophy of person-centered care (Sauer et al., 2016, p. 898). Tom Kitwood’s 1997 book, Dementia Reconsidered: the Person Comes First, outlines needs that must be met in dementia care for individuals with dementia to experience a high quality of life. These needs include attachment, comfort, inclusion, identity and occupation. Each of needs are recognized in OMA’s structure. OMA creates a community among the participants and volunteers. The structure also creates identity and purpose for the elders; when they are creating they have a built-in job and objective. Finally, the program’s culmination in a gallery exhibition has multiple benefits. It creates an opportunity to celebrate the elder artists and their work. The exhibition opening is a time for the elders to reconnect with their student partner and to interact with friends and family members. It is a time when their gifts and talents are brought to the forefront rather than their disease. The celebration increases their sense of community and offers the individuals a sense of purpose and identity. The exhibition also impacts the larger community. As community members view the exhibit, they learn about OMA and about the elder artists. This experience can help overcome stigmas about dementia, revealing the creative capacities that lie within all people. Finally, the exhibition simply serves as a clear ending-point to the program. A 2016 study revealed that participants in OMA have had shown higher rates of engagement and pleasure than those same participants when taking part in traditional arts and crafts activities. OMA participants also showed lower rates of disengagement than when they were taking part in traditional arts and crafts activities (Sauer et al., 2016, pp. 905-906). Analysis 25 of student volunteers’ reflexive journal entries revealed the benefits students gained from taking part in the program as well. Students’ journals consistently reflected a “genuine, pleasurable mutual relationship or friendship with the OMA artists with whom they were working” (Sauer et al., 2016, pp. 907). The artwork created in OMA gives the elder artists a voice they may not have otherwise been able to access. It allows the individuals to express themselves through color, pattern, and abstraction. This is key, as people with moderate to advanced dementia often “lack the ability to communicate through logical, verbal channels, yet their need to communicate and express themselves remains” (Lokon, Sauer & Li, 2016, p. 2). This style of creation can serve as a means to express oneself and communicate with the outside world. Because of this, participating in a program like OMA can be incredibly empowering for individuals with dementia. I interviewed Dr. Elizabeth Lokon over the phone on April 20, 2017. Our conversation began by speaking the methodology and strengths-based psychology behind OMA’s program design. Dr. Lokon informed me that the mission of OMA is to build bridge to reconnect individuals with dementia with society at large. The intention of the program is to change the current narrative that involves fear of aging and dementia. This work equally benefits the elder and the student volunteer. The elder is given a role and a purpose. They become not only artists, but also teachers as they teach the student volunteers patience and how to fearlessly respond to aging and dementia. Dr. Lokon further explained to me that the two partners are kept together throughout the semester. The choice to keep pairs together is very intentional. It allows the partners to build a relationship. Through this relationship partners often learn their own way to communicate with each other. Student volunteers begin to understand what their partner is requesting through small 26 gestures or subtle facial expressions. In this way, the students become an advocate for their partners. Additionally, although the participant with dementia may not remember the name of their student partner from week to week, they are learning to maintain a friendship despite their disease. Opening Minds through Art emphasizes the importance of challenging how people view dementia and aging. All of their work, from the artwork process itself to the gallery exhibition, reveal the ways in which people with dementia are capable of so much more than that they are often perceived to be capable. This revelation often shifts the way volunteers view people with dementia. Further, it has the ability to shift the way caregivers and even the broader public view people with dementia. TimeSlips, Milwaukee, WI TimeSlips Creative Storytelling Project is an award-winning creative storytelling method headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was founded in 1998 and became a non-profit in 2013. The founder, Anne Basting (Ph.D.), is also the director of the organization. Anne Basting is also an educator, scholar and artist who been a leading voice for creativity and aging for over 15 years. She is the recipient of a Rockefeller Fellowship, a Brookdale National Fellowship, and a MacArthur “Genius” Grant. After completing her dissertation and turning it into a book, The Stages of Age: Performing Age in Contemporary Culture, the inspiration for the creation of TimeSlips struck. Dr. Basting states that some of the conclusions she drew from her dissertation and book were that our portrayals of aging in mainstream theater groups are often dependent upon societal 27 expectations, and thus limited. She states, “What I came to is that in performance, by playing a role (commonly, a new role, especially for older adults who had never performed in a play), we could transform how we understood aging” (“Anne Basting”, 2017, p.1). She saw theater as an opportunity for older adults to reframe their own experience of aging. This revelation led to Dr. Basting volunteering at a nursing home in Milwaukee to see if this concept could work for people with dementia as well. Initially, she attempted to use Robert Butler’s theory of reminiscence to structure storytelling with residents, but quickly found that to be ineffective as the nursing home residents were disinterested and unengaged. Anne Basting describes the inspiration for TimeSlips, which struck while attempting to engage residents at the nursing home: I thought—what if we made it up instead? Used improvisation? All you need is a prompt. I took a picture of the Marlboro Man out of a magazine and said, ‘Let’s make this up! What do you want to name him?’ It worked beautifully. It became a 45-minute story with laughter, song and humor, poignancy. It was a double transformation, as it didn’t just transform the role of elders to storytellers, but the staff gathered watching and became engaged: they were in awe, they wanted to join in and sing with us, to be part of it. It became clear right away that the shift from expectation of memory to invitation to imagination played to these residents’ strengths (“Anne Basting”, 2017, p. 10). This point of inspiration led to the TimeSlips storytelling method, which is based largely around creativity, imagination and collective storytelling. The method is person-centered and evidence-based. It uses images and open-ended questions to facilitate a collective storytelling session. This process is meant to “shift emphasis from memory to imagination.” As their mission states: “TimeSlips is an improvisational storytelling method that replaces the pressure to remember with the freedom to imagine.” Their goals are to facilitate a shift from “managing 28 behaviors” of older adults to one that “infuses creativity into care relationships and systems.” They strive to “improve well-being through creativity and meaningful connection” (TimeSlips, n.d.). The facilitation process involves accepting and validating each answer, including gestures, sounds and answers that may be perceived to be nonsensical. Additionally, the process is structured as a ritual and a special event. Ideally, the communities will also find a creative way to share the stories beyond the group. TimeSlips is currently in 12 countries and 41 states; the programs have reached an estimated 47,000 people. This reach is due in great part to TimeSlips offering storytelling facilitation method trainings online in addition to in-person training. Additionally, the TimeSlips website offers free resources for facilitators; one section which is open to everyone, and another section available only for those who have been certified as trainers. While this method was designed for use with seniors with dementia, the method is open to give the facilitator the agency to use the method in any context they find to be useful. Research studies have revealed the success of this method. A 2009 study titled “Impact of TimeSlips, a Creative Expression Intervention Program, on Nursing Home Residents with Dementia and their Caregivers” found that residents in facilities using TimeSlips were more engaged and alert than their control group counterparts. TimeSlips facilities also revealed more frequent staff-resident interactions, social interactions, and social engagement. Additionally, staff at TimeSlips facilities showed more positive views of residents with dementia than the staff in the control group (Fritsch, Kwak, Grant, Lang, Montgomery, & Basting, 2009). A 2015 study analyzing the impact of TimeSlips at the Kunsthaus Museum in Zurich, Switzerland revealed similar results. In this study, all caregivers and most volunteers reported a positive change in their attitudes toward dementia. All participants in the study expressed satisfaction with the 29 sessions. The study states that “it allowed [people with dementia] to experience life-enriching moments, and offered a means of normal participation and integration into normal life (Loizeau, Kundig, & Oppikofer, 2015). A key component to the TimeSlips method is its emphasis on community. In an interview I had with with Anne Basing in early April, she emphasized the importance of their Creative Communities of Care model. The intention is to create inclusive communities that reintegrate those with dementia back into the broader care community, rather than separating them out. Anne noted that part of the goal of Creative Communities of Care is to shift the narrative of what it means to be a healthcare center. The training challenges organizations “to look at themselves as not just health centers, but also as cultural centers” and resources to residents and the broader community. While the TimeSlips method is not always used in an intergenerational setting, the model works well with intergenerational participants. I interviewed Joan Williamson, TimeSlips Training Coordinator and Master Trainer, along with Angela Fingard, Project Manager and Master Trainer, in early April to speak about the ongoing intergenerational work at TimeSlips. They informed me that TimeSlips has been partnering with the Center for Community-Based Learning, Leadership and Research at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee since 2012 to train college students in TimeSlips facilitation. Some of these college students are simply volunteers while other are volunteers who are also gaining service learning credits at the university. Many of these students are studying social work, nursing, arts or a related field, though there are student volunteers from various unrelated fields across the university as well. Training these students involves an in-person introductory session and a four-hour online training session. The group of roughly 20-30 students is then separated into teams of two or three 30 individuals to work as a together at assigned care community in Milwaukee. In the Milwaukee area, TimeSlips has partnerships with five to six care communities. The students facilitate the sessions once a week. The students type the stories they collect and send those stories back to the care communities. The care communities are then given the creative freedom to share these stories however they see fit. Many communities share the stories in newsletters, while other communities have annual TimeSlips exhibits where the residents create artwork based on the stories. Additionally, some students have completed the semester by creating “moving images”, or theater/dance performances of the collected stories. This final step of exhibition or performance extends the impact of TimeSlips far beyond the communities it serves. Joan and Angela let me know that the feedback from care communities and students has been overwhelmingly positive. Students have remarked that this experience has changed their life or course of study. Care communities expressed gratitude to have students add energy to the space. Residents have shared the joy the receive from working with students. There are some limitations to working with service learning students. These include the challenges of scheduling busy students and the limitations of public transportation for those without vehicles. This limits the program to care communities located within a bus ride from Milwaukee. However, both Joan and Angela emphasized that the benefits to working with university students far outweighs the challenges. As the TimeSlips method is used all over the world, the service learning program in Milwaukee is not the only intergenerational program offered using this method. Another TimeSlips program included second graders pairing up with seniors to tell collective stories. Other programs have partnered with elementary schools and had the seniors create stories 31 independently then sending those stories to the elementary students to illustrate. The stories and illustrations were then exhibited side by side. Beyond her work as the founder and director of TimeSlips, Dr. Basting has created several intergenerational projects. One of these projects was based off of the book Little Women. In the book, the March sisters set up a secret “post office” in the hedge between their house and their neighbor’s house to exchange letters and gifts. Using this concept, Dr. Basting had students write letters to unknown elder pen pals. These letters were focused on who they dreamed of becoming and the societal forces that were inhibiting or encouraging them to reach these goals. Dr. Basting collected these letters and distributed them to senior communities. Most elders responded individually, while some care centers serving people with dementia chose to respond collectively. This exchange took place twice. With permission, Dr. Basting copied all of the letters from the exchange. Next, she and her students offered workshops exploring related topics, like what it means to be ladylike or a gentleman in etiquette and movement, the key changes that have taken place when the elders were coming of age in comparison to now, and the work that still needs to be done. These workshops and letters then became the content of a play. This weaving of art forms allows the creative structure of the program to form naturally as the program progresses. In my interview with Dr. Basting, she attributed the success and flexibility of these programs to the Creative Community of Care model. This model focuses on long-term projects (averaging approximately two years) that follow a similar structure but allow for unlimited creative possibilities to take place within that structure. For example, Dr. Basting created another project titled The Penelope Project which used Homer’s Odyssey as a prompt. The goal of that project was to build a community across all levels of care in continuing care facilities. These different levels of care, such as independent living, assisted living, skilled 32 nursing and memory care, rarely work together collectively as they tend to operate as separate spheres. Within the context of the prompt, staff and volunteers were given almost endless creative freedom. Staff integrated the theme by incorporating it into pre-existing daily programming, artists in residence created programming based on it, and student volunteers ran improvisational workshops on poetry, movement, retelling epic stories, and any other focus they could imagine and wanted to explore further. The Creative Communities of Care model simultaneously offers structure and creative freedom to facilitators and participants. While there is room for expression, the model also has a clear trajectory. The general path is to begin with training and partnership building, moving on to creative generation and then creative refinement, to the rehearsal and performance of the final piece, to the final step of evaluation and dissemination. The Geezer Gallery and Bridge Meadows, Portland, OR The Geezer Gallery and Bridge Meadows are two separate organizations in Portland, Oregon. In 2017, the Geezer Gallery and Bridge Meadows partnered together to create an intergenerational arts program called Bridging Generations through the Arts. The arts program was hosted at Bridge Meadows, an intergenerational community in North Portland. While the program served the residents of Bridge Meadows, program design and implementation were created by the Geezer Gallery. Before delving into the Bridging Generations through the Arts program, I will provide a synopsis of The Geezer Gallery and Bridge Meadows. The Geezer Gallery was founded by Amy Henderson, who “wanted to change the narrative of what it means to grow older and be an older adult in the youth-oriented culture we 33 have” (Hansson, 2015). The intention to change the narrative of aging began with the name of the gallery. The controversial name “The Geezer Gallery” was chosen to provoke conversation about aging and what those beyond their youth still have to offer (Muldon, 2012, p. 1). Amy Henderson’s goal was to create a gallery model that allowed seniors to help seniors; the galleries feature artwork that has been created by those over the age of 60 and some of those profits return to directly benefit seniors through art classes and workshops offered at the gallery. In email correspondence with Amy Henderson, she described her organization as “a registered not-for- profit organization that has an art gallery that showcases talented senior artists as a means of partially supporting the development of local senior artistic talent, and the creation and implementation of programs of art and programs of art therapy aimed at the local senior community of the greater Portland area.” Bridge Meadows is an intentional intergenerational living community for youth formerly in foster care, their new adoptive parents, and low-income seniors. Bridge Meadows currently has two locations and is developing a third, all in the Portland, Oregon area. The Bridge Meadows website describes the process of individuals moving to their intergenerational community stating, “Youth move from the instability and trauma of foster care to permanent homes with families. Their adoptive parents grow into stronger, more confident providers. Elders find safe, affordable housing and the chance to use their wisdom and experience to make a life- changing difference” (Bride Meadows Our Work, n.d.). The Bride Meadows location in North Portland currently serves 69 residents: 30 youth (25 of whom were formerly in the foster system), 9 adoptive parents, and 30 elders with limited means. The adoptive families are typically referred to Bridge Meadows through the Department of Human Services. Each family has three or more children. Elders arrive from a variety of 34 referrals. These low-income seniors agree to contribute at least 100 hours of community service in the Bridge Meadows community as part of the lease. Volunteer service varies from child care and tutoring, to cooking meals for other residents, to assisting other elders. Bridge Meadows has won multiple awards including a 2015 Generations United Program of Distinction Award and a 2014 Eisner Prize for Intergenerational Excellence. This recent collaboration with Bridge Meadows is not the Geezer Gallery’s only experience developing intergenerational programming. In 2015, the Geezer Gallery was awarded a grant from the Bloomfield Family Foundation and from corporate sponsor Zidell Companies to create a six-month intergenerational arts program for sixth to eighth graders at the Southwest Charter School whose art programs had been defunded. The Geezer Gallery received donated working artist studios on the Southwest Waterfront and used this space to host 75 students, in groups of 25, to work with three elder artists each week. The program was successful as a creative, learning experience for the students. However, Director Amy Henderson noticed that it was difficult for the students and elders to truly foster relationships with such large class sizes. This experience made it clear that the next intergenerational developed at the Geezer Gallery needed to have a more even ratio of elders to youth. This became the inspiration for the partnership between the Geezer Gallery and Bridge Meadows. In our email correspondence on April 30, 2017, Amy Henderson stated: I had been aware of Bridge Meadows organization and model. They are highly regarded and their model has been proven successful. Partnering seemed like a natural fit for our pilot program. Through professional networks, I was introduced to the executive staff and was able to ascertain if there was a need and an interest to pilot our program: Bridging 35 Generations through the Arts. Their need was great and we had earned funding to bring this to Bridge Meadows for two four-week cohorts. The Geezer Gallery and Bridge Meadow’s pilot intergenerational program, Bridging Generations through the Arts, began on April 23rd 2017. As Amy Henderson explained through our email correspondence, the curriculum was created to fit the unique needs of the group. The needs of this group are specific as the children are in foster care families in the process of adoption. The goal is to create “foster grandparent” relationships with the elders. Many children living in the Bridge Meadows community have had traumatic childhoods and have skewed perceptions of family, home, trust, friendship and safety. Therefore, the art and storytelling in this program were designed to highlight the fact that all children deserve a stable, safe and loving home. The format chosen emphasized developing relationships. The actual creation of art and writing was secondary to experience. I attended the first session of Bridging Generations through the Arts on April 23rd, 2017. The session was held in a community room at Bridge Meadows in North Portland. In my role as a researcher completing participant observation, I did not interact with the participants. I simply observed and took notes. Before the event began, a few older adults arrived. They were very talkative with each other and it was clear they had interacted before. The children participants, who ranged in age from elementary school to high school, arrived a little more slowly. Some of the older adults had to find the children who had not arrived. This was not difficult as everyone lives in the housing complex. Once the pairs were gathered, it was interesting to me that many of the partners seemed to be working together for the first time. The facilitators, Natalie and Candyce, attached their agenda on a large piece of paper to the wall. They also set up three large banners detailing ground rules. These rules were covered as 36 part of the introduction: expressing mutual respect for both young and old, remembering that self-care is your own responsibility, and finally simply a reminder that this a safe space. After the introduction, participants had a short icebreaker activity where the pairs of elders and children interviewed each other asking their name, where they were born and what brought them here today. After presenting those to the class, the interviews continued with more complicated questions. The questions were: - What does home mean to you? - What does friendship mean to you? - How do you want to be remembered? For this set of questions, participants were informed their answers could be as deep or surface-level as they desired. Again, the children interviewed their elder partner and vice versa. These answers were only shared in the pairs and were not meant to be shared with the group. Although I did not hear full answers from participants, I could tell these questions were generating more answers than the simple introductions. Partners were leaning in to each other a little more. Those who had been struggling to answer questions appeared to be opening up. There was a short break before beginning the art activity. The art activity involved two parts: one was creating a color wheel, the other was making abstract designs on cards using transference paper. This project involved one component, the color wheel, which was more technical, and another component, the abstract designs, which offered more freedom. These two components paired together well. The color wheel activity required the partners to problem-solve together. It can be challenging to properly mix colors to make the next color in the wheel. This allowed the pairs to learn together. The other activity, the use of transference paper to make 37 abstract designs, did not involve a right or wrong answer. This allowed the partners to experiment artistically, expressing their personalities. The facilitators gave the partners space to develop their own relationships. While they served as consultants, experts, and leaders, they did not interject themselves into the work that the pairs were completing unless asked. This was an important aspect to the program. It would be easy for facilitators to sit with participants, assisting with the artwork and offering guidance. However, as the purpose of this program is to establish relationships between the elders and children and to introduce stability into the children’s lives, having a facilitator regularly step in to help would be counter-productive. The first session to the pilot program was successful. It appeared to be very well-received by participants. Some of the elders verbally expressed their appreciation of the program afterward. The work from the partners was saved in folders, allowing the participants to build a portfolio together. At the end of the workshop, the pairs will have co-created larger visual art piece expressing elements of what they learned each week. As with any pilot program, there were some unexpected aspects to the new program. The difficulty gathering the children for the program seemed to be unexpected. Although the room was very quiet, many of the older adults could not initially hear the facilitators. This problem was quickly solved with a microphone, but it is something that all programs working with older adults need to keep in mind. When I asked Amy Henderson about the Geezer Gallery’s goals for this intergenerational program, she offered their standardized set of goals for all programming. This standard set of goals has three areas of focus: social, psychological/emotional, and intellectual/cognitive. All programs at the Geezer Gallery have the following criteria for evaluation: 38 Social - Interact/Communicate (verbal/non-verbal) - Work as a team/cooperate - Participant works alongside an intergenerational participant to engage in the task, share materials in the opportunity; give aid or receive aid to/from another participant; demonstrate concern for another individual by asking if they need help or act in a manner to demonstrate concern; compliment another individual or receives compliment as overheard by facilitator or observers. Psychological/Emotional - Be generative/Nurturing/Helping/Caring - Participant demonstrates concern for intergenerational partner, either self-motivated or with prompting by a facilitator, by taking time to carefully meet the others’ needs. Participants cares for feelings, physical well-being, or takes care to include the other person. Overt demonstration of the intergenerational partners’ empathy and desire to serve and include. - Have personal choice/Make decisions – Participant makes a choice about his/her own involvement in the activity when asked, whether to join, what task desired to fulfill, whether to sit or stand, where to sit or stand, what materials to use, whether to stay longer or leave early, which area to work at; exhibits autonomy. - Reminiscence/Reflect Take Initiative – Participant engages in storytelling about his/her past, answers questions about his/her past, brings up object/event from past; incorporates memories/aspirations with personal life history and life experience. 39 - Take Initiative – Participant engages in activity willfully and without prompting; demonstrates a desire to participate through overt action or verbal request, takes it upon him/her self to engage in a certain task or work with a certain individual without prompting. - Be Creative – Participant is able to individualize his/her own intergenerational opportunity by making individual or partnered decisions about what, where and how an opportunity is implemented or completed; participant takes their own approach to the outcome of the project by making it unique from others. - Enhance self-esteem/pride in accomplishment – Participant demonstrates considerable pride in his/her work/finished product/relationship with the intergenerational partner by showing it to others, demonstrating concern about finished product, verbally stating to another positive attributes of product, expressing desire to take home or show off to others; makes comments about making a meaningful contribution to the life of another. Intellectual/Cognitive - Stay on task/Complete an activity – Ability to stay engaged in activity at hand in order to engage meaningfully in task; able to forget other concerns (going home or outside to play) to enjoy the moment and time with intergenerational neighbors. - Learn new terms/skills – Ability to learn the name of a participant/material/facilitator, learn a new skill; demonstrate learning by retaining information over a period of time or from session to session. Participant may demonstrate new learning by using name or showing the skill at the beginning of the session and utilizing that name/skill by the end of the session or even the following week. 40 Bridging Generations through Art is not the only program currently offered at the Geezer Gallery. The Geezer Gallery also offers an ongoing program called Capturing Time. Capturing Time is a 12-week arts and writing program for low-income seniors. In this program, the seniors tell a personal story about traveling. This story of “travel” can involve taking a trip to another country, across town, or simply a story of their own experience of growth. Each week, the participants learn different artistic and creative writing techniques. At the end, the seniors use what they learned to create an illustrated, bound book of their personal story. Capturing Time has served more than 600 low-income seniors. The Geezer Gallery also has developed a 40-hour training course to train Capturing Time facilitators. Through this course, they have trained eight activity directors and plan to train four more in May 2017. The approaches to intergenerational program design vary greatly throughout all three of these case study organizations. This variance is due to the fact that each organization must adapt to serve the particular needs of their community. While Opening Minds through Art and TimeSlips create community for individuals with dementia, Bridge Meadows serves low-income elders and children from the foster care system to help establish new, long-lasting bonds. All of these programs build community. They focus on bringing people together who may not have otherwise interacted. They are all relationship-focused; the artwork or creative storytelling simply becomes a beautiful by-product of their work. 41 Chapter Four: Conclusions This study analyzed three key case studies offering exemplary intergenerational arts program models. The three nonprofit organizations featured were Opening Minds through Art, TimeSlips and the Geezer Gallery. Website and document analysis informed the research alongside key informant interviews. Participant observation informed the research of Bridging Generations through the Arts, offered at Bridge Meadows. This research project has revealed current models of intergenerational arts programs. Additionally, the study has illuminated the way storytelling can be woven into intergenerational arts programs. Some of the intergenerational arts programs used co-creation as a key component of their program, while others made a conscious choice to avoid co-creation. This revealed two different models for intergenerational arts programs that vary based on the goals and intentions of the hosting organization. The main research question of this study was “What are the current models of intergenerational arts program design?” The sub-questions analyzed were “How has co-creation been used in correlation with intergenerational arts programming?”, “How can storytelling be woven into the process of co-creation and intergenerational arts programming?”, “How can current models of intergenerational program design be integrated into existing arts programs which do not currently serve older adults?”, and “Which organizations are key strategic partners for intergenerational arts programs?” In this final chapter, I will answer these questions. Co- creation and storytelling are key themes in current models of intergenerational arts program design. I will focus on those elements as well as additional themes revealed through my research, such as online trainings. I will then offer a set of recommendations for creating an 42 intergenerational arts program. Within this section, I will highlight key strategic partners for these programs. Finally, I will offer avenues for future research in intergenerational art program design. What are current models of intergenerational arts program design? The three case studies revealed different models for intergenerational program design. The programs offered at Opening Minds through Art, TimeSlips, and the Geezer Gallery varied, as they created their program in relation to their own needs and local resources. Overall trends included: service learning, storytelling, co-creation, and online trainings. Service Learning Service learning is a method in education that combines community service with educational objectives. Barbara Jacoby (1996) defines it as “a form of experiential education in which students engage in activities that address human and community needs together with structured opportunities intentionally designed to promote student learning and development. Reflection and reciprocity are key concepts in service learning” (p. 5). Service learning courses are offered in some colleges and high schools across the United States, offering students the opportunity to interact outside of the classroom, making a positive impact in their community. It also offers nonprofit organizations in need of volunteers a consistent, reliable workforce of young, energetic individuals. Two of the three case study organizations used service learning students in college for their student volunteers. The two organizations using service learning are Opening Minds through Art and TimeSlips. Both of these organizations had nearby universities that aided to the ease of these partnerships. The Geezer Gallery did not use service learning students, but they had 43 a consistent population of younger participants as their program took place at a live-in intergenerational community. Dr. Elizabeth Lokon, director and founder of Opening Minds through Art, cited service learning as an area of opportunity for the creation of intergenerational art programs. In our interview, she mentioned that she sees the potential for increasing collaboration between intergenerational programs and service learning students in high schools and colleges. It seems we are nationally trending toward adding more service learning courses in schools. This style of learning helps bring together disparate generations. The generations involved in these programs tend to interact less and less in our society, especially as younger generations tend to move away from their family. Service learning creates connection in community in many ways. It takes students out of the classroom and gives them firsthand, practical experience in the community. Further, it creates connections between students and local arts organizations, helping to bridge the gap that can sometimes be created between universities and the broader community. Finally, when service learning students are volunteering at an intergenerational program, it gives those students a closer, more personal connection to the older generation and aging. These experiences help change stigmas around aging. Individual impacts from these programs can add up to a larger societal impact. Storytelling Storytelling is a powerful addition to intergenerational arts program. Storytelling can involve telling true, personal stories or imagined stories. Of my three case studies, two organizations focused on storytelling. TimeSlips used storytelling as a creative method of using 44 imagination to make up stories. The Geezer Gallery’s intergenerational program, Bridging Generations through the Arts, focuses on real stories and creating new stories. In the TimeSlips facilitation method, storytelling allows participants with dementia to be freed from the pressure to remember past events. As stated on their website, it “shifts emphasis from memory to imagination.” This process allows individuals with dementia to express themselves freely and creatively in an environment where there is no wrong here. Here, the therapeutic power of storytelling is created in that freedom. Even sounds, gestures, and answers that may be perceived to be nonsensical are accepted and included as valid components to an imaginative story. The power in this method of storytelling comes from both the imagination it fosters and the collective aspect of the facilitation. Participants collectively create these stories. This action brings together individuals with dementia and forms a community. TimeSlips participants act and create together as a community. This process helps individuals form bonds and make connections while working collectively and creatively. Bridging Generations through the Arts, the pilot intergenerational arts program developed by the Geezer Gallery and Bridge Meadows, used storytelling in a different way. There, storytelling was developed to help establish and forms bonds between children formerly in the foster case system and the elders living in the community. Bridging Generations through the Arts offered prompts such as “What does home mean to you?” to prompt conversations about home, fitting into the unspoken, overlying theme that all children deserve a safe, stable and loving home. In this program, the intention of storytelling is to foster and nurture relationships between the children and their elder partner. The methods of storytelling vary greatly between TimeSlips and Bridging Generations through Arts. This is because both adapted their programs to serve the needs of their particular 45 population. TimeSlips created an imaginative storytelling method to decrease the pressure placed on individuals with dementia face to remember. Bridging Generations through the Arts created storytelling prompts that highlight that homes can be a place of stability, love, trust and safety for children with traumatic pasts. Each method has been created specifically for that population and for their mission. Co-creation The value of using co-creation in intergenerational arts programs is not something all intergenerational arts programs agree upon. Before completing this research, I had hypothesized that most programs would use and support the concept of co-creation. This seemed logical as co- creation creates an opportunity for the older adult and younger student pair to work together more directly. Using co-creation requires problem-solving and finding points of agreement. This form of collaboration can naturally increase conversation and deepen the bond between two individuals who may not have believed they had much in common. My research revealed that the organizations who do not use co-creation are those that display artwork in galleries and/or sell that artwork. These organizations tend to avoid co- creation as the public is viewing and buying that artwork believing that the artwork was created by, for example, individuals with dementia. These organizations train volunteers to never co- create with their older adult partner in order to maintain the integrity of their program. This is particularly important when the student volunteers are art students. Artwork co-created by an art student and a person with dementia would need to clearly be described as so in gallery exhibitions in order to maintain the integrity of the program. 46 Intergenerational programs do not have to choose between exhibiting and/or selling artwork and co-creation. They can choose to use co-creation in their program design and still display those pieces of artwork, it is just imperative that the artwork process is made clear to the public. The choice to co-create is something that each organization needs to choose based on the mission and vision of their particular program. Facilitator Trainings All three of my case study organizations offer trainings of their facilitation method. The format of these trainings varies from organization to organization. The Geezer Gallery offers training entirely in-person. Opening Minds through Art offers training entirely in-person, or split between online and a one-day in-person training. TimeSlips offers entirely in-person training and entirely online training. All of the organizations offer additional resources and support to trained facilitators. Training facilitators is a fiscally-sound choice. It also helps spread these programs further around the nation, and in some cases, around the globe. Of the three organizations I analyzed, the one with the furthest reach currently is the one who began offering trainings the earliest, and now offers entirely online training: TimeSlips. TimeSlips is currently in 12 counties and 41 states, reaching an estimated 47,000 people. That is an incredible impact for a small non-profit with only a handful of staff members. Although all of the program director founders supported offering trainings programs, their enthusiasm for these programs varied. Dr. Elizabeth Lokon, whose program Opening Minds through Art is currently expanding to 100 nursing homes across Ohio, expressed measured excitement for training programs. As she explained, training programs also create a challenge for 47 the organization to maintain the quality and fidelity of their programs. There is a concern that organizations could start an “Opening Minds through Art” program, but run that program at a lower standard than OMA requires. OMA is prepared to maintain their reputation for high- quality programs through in-depth training and ensuring facilitators have all of the resources they need. All new, trained facilitators are given a 400-page how-to manual along with other resources. This manual explains everything from how to get started, to lesson plans, to evaluation tools. OMA also requires all of their sites complete quarterly reports with text, photo and video submissions. These steps help OMA maintain its integrity and reputation. Recommendations The following are two sets of recommendations for organizations to start an intergenerational arts program. The first set of steps are simple processes to consider when at the very beginning stages of visioning and creating an intergenerational arts program. While these steps are intended for intergenerational arts programs, they can be used as a basis for the visioning process of most creative programs. The second set of recommendations involves deeper considerations specific to intergenerational arts programs. These steps were developed through my conversations with TimeSlips, Opening Minds through Art, the Geezer Gallery, and the National Center for Creative Aging. 1. Create an inventory of the resources, organizations, and businesses that already exist in your community. This list can include care communities, museums, educational facilities, hospitals, libraries, clubs, and local businesses. The most valuable resources will change in each community. There may be a local organization that could be a perfect partner that you have not considered as that organization is outside the realm of traditional arts partnership organizations. 48 2. Find an organization to partner with, and within that organization find a point person to champion this program. Almost every intergenerational arts program exists as a partnership between organizations primarily serving the young or the old, or they exist as a bridge between care communities or clubs and the arts. Additionally, finding a champion within that organization is an important step. All organizations interviewed agreed that the success of a program relies on both organizations caring equally about this program. 3. Speak directly with the group(s) you want to serve to find out what they want and need. Holding listening sessions to hear directly from those who will be impacted by the program will help reveal areas of focus. These needs will change from community to community, even with the same demographic. It is important to let the communities define themselves. 4. Clearly define the problem and clearly define your solution. Clarity and focus will help the program remain on-course. A certain amount of flexibility is still needed to allow for inspiration and to adapt as needed, but this structure will help keep the program mission-focused. 5. Create inclusive programs. Make sure your program is capable of including individuals with varying cognitive and physical abilities. Intergenerational art programs help build community. As Dr. Anne Basting mentioned in our interview, the focus should be on reintegrating individuals into community, not separating them out. 6. Culminate program in celebratory event Celebratory events at the end of programs accomplish multiple things. They create a clear ending-point to the program, offer a space for celebration, and (if open to the public) they offer an opportunity for the public to see aging in a new light. The following are specific considerations for the creation of intergenerational arts programs: - Address the stereotypes each participating generation has about the other group. Speak about ageism directly (Smith-Peers, personal communication, 2017). This underlying issue is inherent to this work. It affects the expectations society places on older adults. Further, these stigmas are often internalized. Intergenerational arts programs have the power to help dismantle this notion. 49 - Consider collaborating with housing or cities to help design their age-friendly initiatives. This is an area of growth in the field of arts and healthcare. Additionally, cities would benefit from receiving input on how they can integrate the arts into these initiatives. - Train facilitators to work with each population and “how to blend the populations intentionally” (Smith-Peers, personal communication, 2017). Some facilitators will have more experience working with youth while others will have more experience working with older adults. Facilitators need to be trained to work with both populations. This is best accomplished through in-person shadowing and training. - Establish a timeframe that works for your organization. Longer timeframes naturally lead to deeper relationships and increased opportunities to exchange skills. Longer-term programs are generally structured to last between one to three years. However, each organization has different resources and intentions. Any length of time still has the ability to be valuable. - Create a program structure that allows for reciprocal learning and growth. Both populations have something to offer the other. While it is worthwhile to have a younger generation interview an older generation to collect their stories, it is equally valuable to have an older generation collect stories from the younger (Basting, personal communication, 2017). This exchange and dialogue can become something more impactful than the two parts would have been separately. Avenues for Future Research Intergenerational art programs exist within a relatively new field, arts and healthcare. Very few research studies have been completed on the subject of intergenerational programs. While more research is needed in all aspects, there are some areas which offer strong starting points. These areas include increasing scientific research to provide evidence on the benefits of these programs, conducting long term studies to reveal the impact of intergenerational arts programs on the way children view aging and the elderly, as well as analyzing the impact intergenerational arts communities can have in relation to policy sectors like housing and transportation. All interviewees agreed that more scientific research is needed to express the efficacy of intergenerational arts programs. There are very few studies researching intergenerational arts 50 programs, so more research studies are needed in general. These studies must take into account both qualitative and quantitative data. Quantitative data can provide scientific evidence that reveals the physical and mental improvements many participants experience after taking part in these programs. It is imperative that qualitative data is also included to provide firsthand and secondhand accounts of experiences in these programs. Intergenerational programs challenge existing cultural narratives on aging and the elderly through cross-generational collaboration. It would be beneficial to conduct a study that reveals this link. This could be reflected through a longitudinal study of children taking part in intergenerational arts programs. revealing the influence intergenerational programming has had on their views of the elderly and aging in general. It would be beneficial to follow these children into their adolescence and young adulthood to see the ways in which their participation in the intergenerational arts program has shaped their worldview. Ageism needs to be taken into account in order to contextualize the environment in which these research studies are taking place. Recognizing this environment further emphasizes the need for these programs. Ageism is “stereotyping and discrimination against individuals or groups on the basis of their age; ageism can take many forms, including prejudicial attitudes, discriminatory practices, or institutional policies and practices that perpetuate stereotypical beliefs” (World Health Organization Report on Ageing and Health, 2015, p. 229). This discrimination is pervasive and is reflected through all generations. It is important to remember that this bias may exist, consciously or subconsciously, in program participants of all generations, caregivers, care communities, and those the research is intended to reach. Ageism must be directly acknowledged in order to complete and disseminate research in a way that recognizes and minimizes bias as much as possible. 51 World Health Organization’s Age-Friendly Cities Initiative offers an avenue of collaboration for future research. The Age-Friendly Cities Initiative began with a 2006 World Health Organization study that identified eight domains of age-friendly livability in cities. These eight domains are: 1. Outdoor Spaces and Buildings, 2. Transportation, 3. Housing, 4. Social Participation, 5. Respect and Social Inclusion, 6. Civic Participation and Employment, 7. Communication and Information, and 8. Community Support and Health Services. The World Health Organization has identified age-friendly cities and communities, featuring those communities in a publically-available database. In the database, cities and communities list their age-friendly policies, programs and strategic plans. Intergenerational arts programs fit into the framework of World Health Organization’s Age-Friendly Cities initiative. These arts programs inherently have the ability to improve the domains listed of social participation and respect and social inclusion. Further, intergenerational arts programs have the ability to improve other domains listed, such as housing, transportation, and community support. Intergenerational arts programs can lead to improvement in those areas by strategically partnering with organizations involved in those policy areas. World Health Organization guidelines for Age-Friendly Cities serves as a framework that reveals areas in need of attention. Intergenerational arts programs have the ability to make positive, lasting impacts in domains beyond social inclusion, such as transportation and housing. Intentional intergenerational communities are strong examples of intergenerational arts programs working in tandem with housing. These communities serve multiple societal needs at once. Bridge Meadows, the intergenerational community highlighted in case study three, is an example of structuring a program to recognize multiple societal needs at once. The model of Bridge Meadows simultaneously recognizes the community needs for low-income housing, 52 transition services for youth recently adopted from foster care, and the need for creativity and self expression. EngAGE, an organization based in Burbank, California, similarly serves societal needs. EngAGE offer low to moderate-income apartments for seniors alongside arts programs. The art programs offered at EngAGE are aimed at promoting active social engagement, creative growth, and providing residents with purpose. Intersecting housing needs with arts programming increases the reach and impact of these programs. Intergenerational programs that simultaneously work to increase access to housing and transportation while providing participants with less tangible needs, like social engagement, offer services that benefit their community of multiple levels. Programs like this truly take into account the various needs of the population they are serving. Additionally, these programs provide research studies quantitative data to clearly express the efficacy of and need for intergenerational programs which also serve a housing need. This data can be influential in increasing funding and public support. EngAGE and Bridge Meadows both seek to provide affordable housing alongside their creativity arts programs. Other areas of focus in World Health Organization’s Age Friendly Cities Initiative can also be served within the structure of intergenerational arts programs. Improving transportation, civic participation, and health services for seniors are all areas that intergenerational arts programs can recognize and seek to improve. These challenges require creative solutions. Intergenerational arts programs have the ability to help overcome these challenges in an innovative way. Jennie Smith-Peers, current director of the National Center for Creative Aging and former director of Elders Share the Arts, agrees that World Health Organization’s Age-Friendly Cities initiative is an opportunity for growth in the field arts and aging. She expressed that 53 collaborating with housing or policy change offers increased possibilities for arts and aging. This collaboration can create the space for older adults to become more influential participants within these sectors. Conclusion This research project has revealed current models of intergenerational arts program design and the common themes that exist within those models. The three case expressed the varying ways intergenerational arts programs can be created to align with the intentions, values and resources of each organization. Additionally, this research highlighted the ability intergenerational arts programs have to serve tangible, societal needs for older adults alongside emotional and social needs. Intergenerational arts programs can partner with housing and transportation to help cities transform into more age-friendly environments. Finally, this research expressed the ability intergenerational arts programs have to create inclusive community. 54 References "Anne Basting Reflects upon the Transformative Nature of Theater and Storytelling." Aging Today. American Society on Aging. 2017. 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(2015). ‘Awakened Art Stories’—Rediscovering pictures by persons living with dementia utilising TimeSlips: A Pilot Study. Geriatric Mental Health Care, 3(2), 13-20. Lokon, E., Kinney, J., & Kunkel, S. (2012). Building Bridges Across Age and Cognitive Barriers Through Art: College Students' Reflections on an Intergenerational Program With Elders who Have Dementia. Journal of Intergenerational Relationships, 10(4), 337-354. Lokon, E., Sauer, P., & Li, Y. (2016). Activities in dementia care: A comparative assessment of activity types. Dementia (London, England), Dementia (London, England), 05 December 2016. Meet Me at MoMA. (n.d.). Retrieved February 05, 2017, from https://www.moma.org/meetme/index Muldon, K. (2012, February 11). The Geezer Gallery celebrates Portland's creative class -- the senior class, that is. Retrieved April 14, 2017, from http://www.oregonlive.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2012/02/geezer_gallery_celebrates_p ort.html National Center for Creative Aging. (n.d.). Manual for Artist Training in Arts and Aging. National Endowment for the Arts. (2011). The arts and human development : framing a national research agenda for the arts, lifelong learning, and individual well-being. Boston, MA. Opening Minds through Art (OMA). (n.d.). Retrieved March 3, 2017, from http://www.scrippsoma.org/ 56 Rosenblatt, Brooke. (2014). Museum Education and Art Therapy: Promoting Wellness in Older Adults. Journal of Museum Education, 39(3), 293-301. Sauer, P., Fopma-Loy, J., Kinney, J., & Lokon, E. (2016). “It makes me feel like myself”: Person-centered versus traditional visual arts activities for people with dementia. Dementia, 15(5), 895-912. TimeSlips Creative Storytelling Project. (n.d.). Retrieved May 14, 2016, from http://www.timeslips.org/about Visual Thinking Strategies . (n.d.). Retrieved February 05, 2017, from http://www.vtshome.org World Health Organization. (2015). World Report of Aging and Health. Luxembourg: WHO Press. Bastian, Recruitment Letter, version: 11/28/2016 Date Name Address City, State Zip Dear [insert name], You are invited to participate in a research project titled Intergenerational Program Design Recommendations for Arts Organizations, conducted by Hannah Bastian from the University of Oregon’s Arts and Administration Program. This study is for the completion of a Master’s thesis. The purpose of this study is to uncover key aspects of program design in intergenerational arts programs in order to offer a list of recommendations for arts organizations to create intergenerational programs of their own. While many arts programs exist, more are needed to support the growing number of individuals over the age 65 in the United States. These programs should be created thoughtfully and intentionally, addressing issues facing older adults and communities at large, such as individuals experiencing loneliness and lack of connection. Intergenerational programs offer connection, creating community between individuals who likely would not have otherwise interacted. To begin to create a series of recommendations for organizations to create intergenerational arts programs, this study aims to conduct a comparative case study analysis of top programs across the nation. The first phase of the study (January 2017 – March 2017) involves interviews and document analysis. You were selected to participate in this study because of your leadership position at [insert case study organization] and your experience and expertise pertinent to intergenerational arts programs in [case study city]. If you decide to participate in this research project, you will be asked to provide relevant organizational materials and participate in an interview lasting approximately one hour. Interviews will take place between January and March 2017. If you wish, interview questions will be provided beforehand for your consideration. A consent script is attached. I will go over this script with you prior to the interview. Interviews will take place over Skype or in-person at a location chosen based on proximity to your location. Interviews will be scheduled at your convenience. In addition to taking handwritten notes, with your permission, I will use an audio recorder for transcription and validation purposes. You may also be asked to provide follow-up information through phone calls or email. All participants must be willing to be identified in the presentation and publication of the findings. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at (605) 645-8518 or hbastian@uoregon.edu. Any questions regarding your rights as a research participant should be directed to the Office for the Protection of Human Subjects, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, (541) 346-2510. Thank you in advance for your interest and consideration, I will contact you shortly to speak about your potential involvement in this study. Sincerely, Hannah Bastian Candidate for M.S. in Arts Management University of Oregon Bastian, Protocol #, Participant Consent, Version: 11/28/2016 University of Oregon Arts and Administration Program Informed Consent for Participation as a Subject in Intergenerational Program Design Recommendations for Arts Organizations Investigator: Hannah Bastian Type of consent: Adult Consent Form Introduction • You are being asked to be in a research study of intergenerational arts program design. • You were selected as a possible participant because of your your experience and expertise pertinent to intergenerational arts programs. • We ask that you read this form and ask any questions that you may have before agreeing to be in the study. Purpose of Study: • The purpose of this study is to create a list of recommendations and best practices for the development of intergenerational arts programs. • This study is being used for the completion a Master’s thesis. • Participants in this study are from the United States. Description of the Study Procedures: • If you agree to be in this study, we would ask you to do the following things: provide relevant organizational materials and participate in an interview lasting approximately one hour. Risks/Discomforts of Being in the Study: • The study has the following risk. The use of participants’ names in written documents resulting from this study allows for the possibility of a participant’s comments, and as a representative of his or her institution, to displease that individual’s colleagues. There is a possibility that colleagues may not be pleased with what a participant has stated publically about their program. Benefits of Being in the Study: • It is hoped that the results of this study will benefit arts administration through the creation of a list of recommendations and best practices for the development of intergenerational arts programs. • The benefits of participation are this study may bring up ideas and/or concerns that may help participants in their jobs. Ultimately, the goal of this study is to develop a framework for intergenerational program design to benefit the arts and healthcare field, which may lead to sector-wide benefits to subjects. Additionally, this study will benefit the arts administration field as a whole, as arts and healthcare is a quickly growing field increasingly in need of the support of research. Bastian, Protocol #, Participant Consent, Version: 11/28/2016 Compensation: • This study offers no compensation. Costs: • There is no cost to you to participate in this research study. Confidentiality: • The identities of all participants will be disclosed in the final publication. All participants must be willing to be identified. • The records of this study will be kept private. In any sort of report we may publish, we will not include any information that will make it possible to identify a participant. Research records will be kept in a locked file. • All electronic information will be coded and secured using a password protected file. Only the PI and research advisor will have access to audio recordings which will be destroyed one year after the project ends. • Access to the records will be limited to the researchers; however, please note that regulatory agencies, and the Institutional Review Board and internal University of Oregon auditors may review the research records. Voluntary Participation/Withdrawal: • Your participation is voluntary. If you choose not to participate, it will not affect your current or future relations with the University of Oregon. • You are free to withdraw at any time, for whatever reason. • There is no penalty or loss of benefits for not taking part or for stopping your participation. Contacts and Questions: • The researcher conducting this study is Hannah Bastian. For questions or more information concerning this research you may contact her at (605) 645-8518 or hbastian@uoregon.edu. • If you have any questions about your rights as a research subject, you may contact: Research Compliance Services, University of Oregon at (541) 346-2510 or ResearchCompliance@uoregon.edu Copy of Consent Form: • You will be given a copy of this form to keep for your records and future reference. Bastian, Protocol #, Participant Consent, Version: 11/28/2016 Statement of Consent: I have read (or have had read to me) the contents of this consent form and have been encouraged to ask questions. I have received answers to my questions. I give my consent to participate in this study. I have received (or will receive) a copy of this form. Signatures/Dates Please read and initial each of the following statements to indicate your consent: _____ I consent to the use of audiotapes and note taking during my interview. _____ I consent to my identification as a participant in this study. _____ I consent to the potential use of quotations from the interview. _____ I consent to the use of information I provide regarding the organization with which I am associated. _____ I wish to have the opportunity to review and possibly revise my comments and the information that I provide prior to these data appearing in the final version of any publications that may result from this study. Your signature indicates that you have read and understand the information provided above, that you willingly agree to participate, that you may withdraw your consent at any time and discontinue participation without penalty, that you have received a copy of this form, and that you are not waiving any legal claims, rights or remedies. You have been given a copy of this form to keep. Print Name: __________________________________________________________ Signature: _______________________________________________________ Date: ________________ Semi-Structured Interview Questions for Program Directors 1. What intergenerational programs do you offer at [name of org]? 2. How often do these programs take place and what is the duration? 3. How many employees does it take to run this program? 4. What responsibilities and tasks are required to implement this program? 5. What skills and/or background do you prefer your employees have? 6. Do you partner with any other organizations? 7. If yes, who? Can you tell me more about how that partnership works? 8. What are some problems you have come across in your program design? 9. In your opinion, what are the best/most effective aspects of your program design? 10. Do your programs involve storytelling? Why or why not? 11. Do your programs involve co-creation? Why or why not? 12. Do your programs utilize service learning students? 13. If yes, what are the benefits and challenges associated with working with students? 14. Do you have any advice for organizations hoping to create an intergenerational arts program?