intergenerational effort. A positive experi- ence can put fresh coal in the furnace of staff members who might otherwise run out of steam. “Everybody has so much work to do,” Goodyear said. “If you can get people to step out of their day for a minute and do this instead, it reminds them of why we do all of this. If you are the accountant, you are focused on doing your job. If you are [in] maintenance, you are busy order- ing carpeting and making sure the heat is on. To have this very different interaction is great for the staff. They get to experience the residents in a very different way.” In addition to seeking staff engagement,


Goodyear also helped to lay the ground- work among the students, encouraging her team to establish realistic expectations be- fore face to face sessions began. “We went out to the school to give them an idea of what to expect,” she said. “We have a large number of people with dementia and we wanted to prepare them for that. We tell them, for example: If the conversation isn’t going the way you expect or if someone says something you don’t expect, here’s how to redirect it or how to just roll with it.” At Ebenezer, where kids and seniors


readily co-mingle, that effort has to flow in two directions simultaneously. “I train my childcare staff when they come in, and the senior campus trains their staff too: If you are working here you will be around chil- dren. In the adult day area for example the


staff need to be able to help our children if they need help. They need to know that it’s okay to do that,” Schumann said. Staff support is vital, and so is the support


of the seniors themselves. Rather than be mere passive recipients in an intergenera- tional event, experts say, residents should be invited to help formulate ideas and shape the encounter to suit their needs. When Mather LifeWays organized its


program, for example, “we gave the older adults the chance to reflect on what they wanted to offer, what they felt was most important to share with the student par- ticipants,” Nicholson said. “It’s important to give them some ownership of the experience, to let them be the ones to decide what is most important to transmit to the younger generation.” With staff and seniors on board, it’s time to consider one further key ingredient: The partner. Schools and churches offer an ob- vious starting point, but experts encourage senior living leaders to dig a little deeper as they seek out suitable organizations with which to team.


Partnering up At the Massachusetts Healthy Aging Col- laborative, senior director James Fuccione encourages senior housing leadership to take a big view. “An age-friendly commu- nity means you have a broad-based local coalition that should include senior housing


A KIDS-EYE VIEW


As associate director of the nonprofit Puzzles to Remember, 11-year-old Hailey Richman of Long Island City, N.Y., has helped place 30,000 jigsaw puzzles in senior living communities, as a way to help stimulate mental activity among the memory-impaired.


Her grandmother has Alzheimer’s and unlike many kids, she feels a high level of comfort around seniors. “Older people won’t judge you as much. They are patient and they have a lot of time, which adults don’t always have because they have to go to work. They take an interest, they are very kind and nice,” she said.


Richman says that senior living leaders who want to do intergenerational outreach are most likely to succeed if they devote some attention up front to putting the kids at ease.


“Most of my friends are a little scared at first. It really helps if there is someone who will say: It’s nothing to be afraid of. These people might not act exactly as you expect, they might also be a little shy, but be patient,” she said. “Then you can do puzzle time, do a fun activity. That breaks the ice and people start to enjoy themselves.”


Explicit instruction helps, too. “Encourage kids to talk to them—and give them ideas about how to do it. ‘My name is Hailey and my favorite color is blue.’ You’re meeting someone for the first time, and so you look for ways to get to know them,” she said.


Children and residents at Ebenezer Ridges participate in sing-alongs together. Photo credit: Ebenezer Marketing. JULY/AUGUST 2018 ARGENTUM.ORG 21


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