The Intergenerational Representation of Old Age in the Transition to Frailty: An Empirical Analysis in Italy

The results presented here are part of the outcome of a research project titled Redesign—Frail Elderly, Intergenerational\r\nSolidarity and Age‐Friendly Communities (https://redesignanziani.com) funded by Fondazione Cariplo and coordinated by\r\nthe Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan, in collaboration with Università degli studi di Verona and Università degli\r\nstudi del Molise (2019–2022). The research aims to co‐acquire knowledge of the transition to old age in vulnerable situations,\r\nto develop and implement new community networks of care, and thus promote health and well‐being, active ageing,\r\nand intergenerational solidarity in eight Italian municipalities. The analysis of the dyadic interviews, conducted with the\r\nNVivo software, will provide the image of ageing and old age emerging from an intergenerational dialogue. By analysing\r\nresults, it will therefore be possible to identify some specific types of representation of old age in relation to the dyad, the\r\nstressful events that occurred to the interviewees and in relation to the ways of living the transition. The representation of\r\nold age seems closely connected with the quality and intensity of relationships, the environment of associative and local\r\nlife that the interviewees relate to, and the stressful events that have recently occurred to them.