Preschool partnership lifts spirits for aged care residents on Sydney’s north shore
An intergenerational program linking 4-5 year olds with aged care residents on Sydney’s north shore is helping reduce social isolation for seniors and equipping children with valuable social skills
North Shore
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Despite age gaps of up to eight decades, residents at a north shore retirement home are enjoying the company and friendship of some of the region’s youngest residents.
A collaboration between the KU Fox Valley Preschool in Wahroonga and the nearby Greenwood Aged Care home is set to expand this year as part of an initiative connecting 4-5 year olds with senior residents.
Launched back in 2016, the intergenerational program involves 25 children visiting Greenwood with alternate visits to the preschool by residents of the aged care home.
Partly aimed at reducing social isolation, the initiative is among the rising number of ageless playgroups taking place in aged care homes across NSW.
KU Fox Valley Preschool director Carol Nagel said the program has provided benefits to participants across the generations.
“We have arts and crafts sessions, singalongs, morning teas, other times we play instruments — you can see the seniors light up when we visit them,” she said.
“Some of the senior residents in the program have mobility issues or rarely have visits from their families so for them it’s an opportunity to engage and connect.
“It’s also beneficial for the children because it’s an opportunity for them to broaden their understanding and awareness of older generations.
“Children who can be quite reserved during singing or dancing activities at the preschool open up and feel very content to dance and sing and be more outgoing in that environment.
“It’s a really interesting dynamic and the children go off to school each year enriched by the experience.”
Other play-based activities in the program include gardening, reading picture books and completing puzzles.
Similar initiatives across Australia have included Griffith University’s Intergenerational Care Project which is due to release findings from the research later this year.
Ms Nagel hopes to continue to the program on a permanent basis.
“Each time we have visits the experience is even more rewarding and it’s amazing to see genuine connections and respect between the children and residents,” she said.
The centre has received a grant from Ku-ring-gai Council to expand the program with additional visits in the coming 12 months.
Benefits of such initiatives were explored by hit series Old People’s Home for 4 Year Olds which aired on ABC earlier this year.