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[Indirect effects of school volunteering by senior citizens on parents through the "REPRINTS" intergenerational health promotion program].

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
We have launched a new intervention study, called "REPRINTS" (Research of productivity by intergenerational sympathy), in which senior volunteers aged 60 years and over are engaged in reading picture books to school children, regularly visiting public elementary schools since 2004.


METHODS
So far, no repeated cross-sectional studies to demonstrate indirect effects on parents have been reported, although reciprocal effects on senior volunteers and children have been demonstrated. The purpose of this study was to examine the changes of evaluation of "REPRINTS" program by parents of school children during the 2 years.


SUBJECTS & SETTING
Four to six volunteers as a group visited an elementary school in a suburb of Kawasaki city twice a week to read picture books. A baseline survey was conducted one month after launching the volunteer activity. First to fourth follow-up surveys were conducted every 6 months after baseline surver. Of 368 parents, 230 whose children were in 1st-4th grade were analyzed.


MEASUREMENTS
School grade of children, gender, emotional image scale of older adults by the SD (Semantic Differential) method (13 items), parents' evaluation of activity of "REPRINTS" volunteers such as promotion of reading for children, or children's respect for older adults, appreciation, familiarity with older adults, indirect effects on promotion of safety in the community, and reducing parent's physical and psychological burdens of volunteer service for school. Repeated cross-sectional analyses by ANCOVA, adjusted for confounding factors, were conducted in order to compare changes in responses between parents of 1st-2nd grade children (lower-grade children) with those of 3rd-4th grade-children (middle-grade children). We examined experiences of being read with picture books, greeting and having conversations with volunteers among all of 330 students of 1st-4th grade. These three items were examined using Chi-squared test to compare longitudinal change between parents of lower-grade and middle-grade children.


RESULTS
Evaluation of children's familiarity with older adults significantly declined among parents of middle-grade children, but was maintained among those of lower-grade children during the 2 years. Physical burdens of volunteer service for school were lower among parents' of lower-grade children at baseline, and were significantly reduced among parents' of all grades. Promotion of reading for children, indirect effects on promotion of safety in the community, and frequency of hearing episodes of "REPRINTS" volunteers from children were higher among parents' of lower-grade children at baseline. Psychological burdens were reduced and level of knowledge of "REPRINTS" volunteers was increased among parents' of all grades. In terms of parents' emotional image scale of older adults in general, no significant difference was found among the grades of school children and number of surveys for all the subscales of 'socialization', 'activity', and 'cheerfulness'.


CONCLUSION
The level of knowledge and a number of items of evaluation of "REPRINTS" volunteers were significantly increased among parents of both lower-grade and middle-grade children during the 2-year intervention. This study indicates that the "REPRINTS" program can contribute to establishing trust and reliance between generations of older adults and parents of school children with the children as mediators.