Intergenerational Practice- Sustainable connections by Dr Sandra Lyndon- University of Chichester.

A few years ago, just before the first Covid-19 lockdown, I was fortunate to be part of a small intergenerational project between a nursery school and a residential care home. Intergenerational practice is the bringing together of children and older people to create positive relationships and meaningful connections. Each week a small group of 3 year olds and nursery school staff would visit their ‘older friends’ at the care home. The visits usually lasted for 30 minutes and largely consisted of singing games. As part of the research project we accompanied the children once a month on the visits to the nursery school, observing their interactions with their ‘older friends’, as well as interviewing the nursery school staff and activity providers from the care home.

It was clear from our findings that everyone who took part in the project gained. For many of the nursery school staff the greatest reward was the emotional connection, including the ‘love’ they felt for the older adults, and the ‘joy’ and fun of taking part. We observed how over time meaningful connections were between the children and older adults. The singing provided a structure and focus for the sessions; however, it was in the ‘unstructured’ times outside of the activities that meaningful encounters were more likely to occur. Open spaces and flexible sessions were also important for supporting connections between the children and their ‘older friends’. The ‘older friends’ were able to join the sessions easily if it had already started, and there was more space to move around and engage with action songs. ‘In the moment’ and ‘going with the moment’ were phrases used repeatedly by the staff involved in the project.  Many of the older adults living in the nursery home had dementia, and their connections with the children was often temporal. So if an interest or connection was made the staff skilfully ‘went with the moment’ rather than pursuing a pre-planned activity.

During the pandemic all face-to-face intergenerational practice stopped, including the project between the nursery school and residential care home.  The UK Covid-19 inquiry (2025) reveals the profound and enduring way that the pandemic affected both children’s health and well-being and the care and support of older adults. It feels now is the right time to re-explore how intergenerational practice can be supported in new and sustainable ways, particularly in light of the multiple benefits it affords for older adults, children, and facilitators.   I am proud to be part of a new project with Professor Denise Turner, University of Hertfordshire and Hilary Woodhead, CEO of National Activity Providers Association (NAPA). We are investigating  what has happened to intergenerational practice between older adults in care homes and children since Covid-19; including the perceived benefits and challenges. We have sent out a survey to the membership of NAPA, and are in the process of analysing our responses.

To find out more about the project please contact Sandra Lyndon (s.lyndon@chi.ac.uk), Denise Turner (dturner4@herts.ac.uk) or Hilary Woodhead (hilary@napa-activities.co.uk) .