Intergenerational social innovation project "Cos_Avos": active aging through Physical Education

Introduction: The population of older adults grows exponentially, age discrimination, negative stereotypes and prejudice towards them are on the rise. To combat this, there is a need for proposals that enhance people’s perception of the older adults by presenting aging as a positive paradigm. Objective: to generate empathy, collaboration, improved social relations, open-mindedness and initiative among older adults, children and adolescents. Methodology: 767 school (8 to 16 years old), and 141 older adults (65 to 89 years old) took part of physical-sports activities carried out over a 10 days period in the social-health centers. To evaluate the effect of intergenerational project on the emotional, social, functional and cognitive dimensions of the participants, an ad hoc questionnaire was carried out. Results: The results showed a significant positive effect (p