Intergenerational cohesion during COVID-19 and beyond

The COVID-19 pandemic has shaken society to its core. However, while its profound impact on health and healthcare systems became immediately visible, we are only now starting to grasp its massive toll on individual and collective welfare. One area in which this societal harm has become apparent is intergenerational contacts. This applies particularly to contacts between older people (aged 65+ years) and younger people (aged <65 years). The pandemic has had various consequences for the support systems between people of different age groups. On the one hand, COVID restricted the possibilities to help, due to the contact regulations. On the other hand, the pandemic also resulted in an increased willingness to provide assistance between and within generations. The social cohesion was nevertheless strongly challenged by the fiercely diverging views on how to handle the (protective measures during the) pandemic. To investigate this societal dimension of the pandemic, we will examine the building and maintenance of inter-(intra)generational social cohesion. Therefore, we use a triangulation of qualitative and quantitative methods, including secondary analyses of existing European (SHARE) and Swiss (SwissSurvey65+) data sets, stakeholder workshops and sounding board meetings, an original national survey (1600 participants aged 18+ years) and in-depth interviews (N = 34) with both private people of various ages and professionals who work with older persons. In this project, we cooperate closely with various national practice partners (i.e. Swiss Red Cross, Canton of Bern; Catholic Church, Region of Bern; Pro Senectute beider Basel; and Intergeneration.ch) who have gathered comprehensive experience in upholding inter-(intra)generational relationships during the COVID-19 pandemic. The project's aim is twofold. First, we aim to map and evaluate the various innovative ways in which people have established intergenerational relationships and social cohesion during the pandemic both in informal and professional contexts. In doing so, we will identify the factors that have affected the societal handling of the pandemic. Second, based on these research findings, we will formulate policy recommendations to strengthen intergenerational societal cohesion. As such, the pioneering experiments for establishing contact in the challenging COVID-19 context will prove valuable lessons learned to boost the intergenerational cohesion in the post-pandemic era.