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Journal of Urban Health : Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine logoLink to Journal of Urban Health : Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine
. 2004 Mar;81(1):94–105. doi: 10.1093/jurban/jth096

Experience corps: Design of an intergenerational program to boost social capital and promote the health of an aging society

Thomas A Glass 1,✉, Marc Freedman 2, Michelle C Carlson 1, Joel Hill 1, Kevin D Frick 1, Nick Ialongo 1, Sylvia McGill, George W Rebok 1, Teresa Seeman 3, James M Tielsch 1, Barbara A Wasik, Scott Zeger 1, Linda P Fried
PMCID: PMC3456133  PMID: 15047788

Abstract

Population aging portends a crisis of resources and values. Desired solutions could include intergenerational strategies to harness the untapped potential of older adultsto address societal needs and to generate health improvements for older adults. Despite the desire of many older adults to remain socially engaged and productive, the creation of productive roles has lagged. This report describes the conceptual framework and major design features of a new model of health promotion for older adults called Experience Corps®. Experience Corps operates at, and leads to benefits, across multiple levels, including individuals, schools, and the larger community. At the individual level, we propose a model based on Erikson’s concept of generativity to explain bow and why experience Corps works. At the level of schools, we propose a parallel model based on social capital. Experience Corps is a volunteer service program designed to improve the lives of urban childre and to yield health improvement for older persons. It illustrates how population aging creates new opportunities to address difficult social problems. This article explores how the linkage of concepts at multiple levels motivates a potentially cost-effective, feasible, and high-impact program.

Keywords: Health promotion, social engagements, Aging, Social capital, Volunteering, Healthy aging

Full Text

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Footnotes

Dr. Fried is with the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Drs. Glass, Carlson, Frick, Ialongo, Rebok, Tielsch, and Zeger and Mr. Hill are with The Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health

Dr. Wasik is with The Johns Hopkins University Center for Social Organization of Schools

Ms. McGill is with the Greater Homewood Community Corporation.

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