Effectiveness of intergenerational participation on residents with dementia: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

Aim This meta‐analysis evaluated the effectiveness of intergenerational program participation for long‐term care institution residents with dementia. Design A systematic review and meta‐analysis. Methods Ten electronic databases were systematically searched until August 2020: CINAHL, the Cochrane Library, EBSCO, EMBASE, Ovid Medline, ProQuest, Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science. The Joanna Briggs Institute tool (JBI tool) was used for the quality appraisal of the included publications, and Review Manager 5.3 was used for the meta‐analysis. Results Thirteen articles were identified (1993–2015). Intergenerational program participation could improve the pleasure level and significantly reduce disengagement behaviours of residents with dementia. The intergenerational program intervention caused no apparent improvement in their quality of life, depression levels, and engagement levels.