SCHOOLS and some regional aged-care and childcare centres have been doing it for years and lauding the benefits for everyone, but now a scientific study into mixing oldies with toddlers and little kids is set to see just how great the results are.
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A nationwide study into the benefits of mixing aged-care and childcare in an intergenerational setting is about to get under way in Queensland, testing the bond between the young and old.
Plenty of stories have emerged over the years about when the old and the young get together in a safe and secure place – and do their thing with each other.
At Woolomin school earlier this year, the annual get-together when grandparents and grandkids hit it off in the playground and the classroom, so the kids can give them a very specialised show-and-tell, prompted some wonderfully magic moments.
And increasingly over the past few years, grandparents are seen more and more in school visits – not least because many parents are working and unable to get there, or they share the shifts of doing school duties, not just in the canteen either.
Plenty of grandparents now are weekly institutions in the classroom, helping with reading and recreational activities, especially with craft.
At Liberty College, grandparents have been involved in musical lessons as well.
A few weeks ago, the Nurture One long day care centre traipsed off to Nazareth House to help entertain the elderly.
The main objective then was to teach the kids some new skills, like following instructions, new environments and listening. Along the way they entertained the oldies. Everyone got something different from it, not least some essential intergenerational interaction.
The name “grandfriends” has been invented.
But the study takes things to new heights, including actually looking at whether placing the two care facilities closer so there is more interaction will ultimately prevent the decline in cognitive function, and help “grandfriends” maintain independence for longer.
With increasing dementia numbers and the looming ageing boom, there is pressure on aged care and respite services.
One of the study proponents, Professor Anneke Fitzgerald, says “there are huge psychological benefits if someone who is feeling otherwise confused, forgetful and hopeless thinks, ‘It’s my turn to read to the children today, so I do need to get out of bed, they are expecting me’.”
So, while the idea of mixing young and old isn’t new, the idea of mixing aged care and children in a formal program is.
The science of it might go a long way to validating the social evidence.
