Changing views of old age and dementia for children in elementary schools in The Netherlands.

BACKGROUND: Children have negative stereotypes about aging and dementia from a very young age. These mental images are harmful to their own well-being in later life and toxic to their approaching behavior of elderly people. There is an urgent need for positive interventions that give children a more constructive image of old age and dementia.

METHOD: We organized an innovative 14-week educational trajectory about positive aging for two school classes of Dutch pupils of 10 years old. The young participants (n = 40) received communicational training to interact in a meaningful way with grandparents and unfamiliar people with dementia. Before and after the intervention, the children made four drawings of elderly people (unfamiliar, healthy & happy, unhealthy & unhappy, grandparent). The evolution of the drawings will be analyzed with an emphasis on the appearance, the location, the activity and the social network of the elderly.

RESULT: [Data will be collected in March - June 2022] We predict that the positive interventions will be visible in the evolution of the children's drawings. We hypothesize the post-test drawings to depict more social interactions between generations and showing a wider range of activities that differ from unhealthy and sedentary lifestyles.

CONCLUSION: The negative perceptions about old age and dementia arise at a young age and are detrimental later in life. Positive interventions are able to alter these internalized representations by changing the perspective on old age and dementia in children.