Project that draws on history just one in a series of ideas to help those in seniors' homes
Jennifer Moreau, Burnaby Now
Scraps of memory and bits of recollection.
Outside the residents' rooms at George Derby Centre, there are picture boxes full of them, photographic collages mapping the lives of the residents in the Burnaby long-term care facility for veterans.
There are images of weddings, young men in military uniform, medals, loved ones, children and former workplaces.
They're part of the "memory box" project, something the centre started three years ago to honour the experience, expertise and interests of the residents.
Seniors and their families can help create the collages, and each is displayed in a handcrafted box hung on the wall. The boxes act as conversation pieces for everyone at the centre, bridging the generation gap between residents, staff, volunteers, family and friends.
"This is a person that has a history, just like you and me. It builds bridges between generations," says Carol Oberg, an educational consultant who works with the centre. "Grandchildren look in the box and say, 'Who is that man?' and a conversation comes out."
The memory box concept is just one of several "intergenerational projects" mentioned in a new guide from the B.C. Care Providers Association.
The guide helps people create projects on how to bridge the gap between young and old - projects some advocates believe help reduce age-based prejudice.
"It gives people a bit of a road map," says association spokesperson David Hurford of the guide.
The association got involved in creating the guide partly to help promote something Hurford says is sometimes overlooked and hard to qualify: quality of life.
"It's sometimes difficult to measure the happiness a bunch of children bring when they visit a care centre," he says. "It generally makes people's lives happier, healthier."
Intergenerational projects are defined as any activity or program that brings young and old people together.
Other examples include children, retired adults and gardeners in a yearlong project growing crops or a young girls' ballet class in a seniors' home.
According to the guide, the connections between youth and seniors are less common these days, and the generational divide can lead to isolation and missed learning opportunities.
"When people live in care facilities, they are all of a sudden excluded from community," Oberg says. "Elders and children are no longer connected, so now we have to set something up. ... We have to compensate because people don't have that kind of connection anymore."
The guide walks people through a planning process for creating intergenerational projects, including things like overview, scope, assigning tasks, budgeting and dealing with death.
Hurford says starting an intergenerational project is worth the effort.
"It really is worth it, the magic that happens when you get seniors and kids together in the room," he says. "It's not as much work as you might think. There's a lot of help out there."
To view a copy of the guide, visit the B.C. Care Providers Association website at http://bccare.ca.
