Facilitating intergenerational storytelling for older adults in the nursing home: A case study

Abstract

In this paper, we present our study regarding facilitating storytelling of older adults living in the nursing home with their children. The paper was driven by the following research questions: (1) What life stories would the older adults like to share? And (2) In which ways, could design enable the older adults to tell their stories? We designed a tangible device named Slots-Story, and conducted a preliminary evaluation to refine it. In the field study, eight pairs of participants (each pair consisted of an elderly adult and his/her child) were recruited to use the prototype for around ten days. Semi-structured interviews were conducted before and after the implementation. In total 344 stories were collected. Thematic, structural, and interaction analyses were conducted with the stories. In the discussion, we conclude the paper with design considerations for promoting older adults' storytelling with their children.