Elderly Peoples’ Perception of Young People – A Preliminary Study

BACKGROUND: Aging is becoming a more noticeable phenomenon in Poland and Europe. We analysed the perception of youth by elderly and compared attitudes of students of the University of the Third Age (SU3A) with nursing homes residents (NHR) to young people. METHODS: Our questionnaire was distributed to 140 people over the age of 50 (70 SU3A and 70 NHR). RESULTS: 85.0% of all respondents answered positively to the question “Do you enjoy contact with young people?”, even though their contacts are usually limited and mostly confined to a few s a year. Vast majority of NHR (62.9%) and almost half SU3A (48.6%) believe that there is a need to integrate seniors and youth to achieve mutual benefits. CONCLUSION: Young people would benefit from the life experience of the elderly; the elderly could become more active in many areas of life.