How Children Can Help Improve the Quality of Aged Care at Home

Children and the elderly have a remarkable connection with one another that can be described as magical. The magic that really stems from this is the intergenerational bond and the way they let themselves live quite simply in the moment. They are caught up in a world of wonder and moving at their own beautiful pace.

Think about your own grandparents when you were growing up and the valuable things you learned from them. How children can help improve the quality of aged care at home includes many benefits and together they enjoy a youthful freedom. Lets explore the benefits of these two groups interacting together.

Creates a better community

When we bring together these two groups as in the past we develop a much richer community. The elderly can help socialise the children and give them a certain kind of empathy and love they can’t find anywhere else. Children can give the elderly a source of joy and help them with many simple tasks. This gives both groups a sense of community and the children are learning many valuable lessons.

Benefits to children

Research shows that children need more caring adults in their lives to develop properly. The children of today get caught up with computers and don’t get enough experience with mature adults. This intergenerational bond does not need to be a biological parent and the elderly are a perfect match for this benefit.

• This connection builds their self-esteem and helps them make better grades
• Children develop a bond with the elderly that makes them feel special
• They get more attention than with their parents
• Gives children someone safe to talk to and share stories with
• Children learn new activities and skills while having fun
• Children really get to know the elderly providing life-long advantages

Benefits for the elderly

The elderly in aged care at home get many magical benefits that help even dementia patients feel better about themselves. This human interaction works wonders with the many conditions that the elderly have.

• Elders feel a sense of joy and freedom with children, unlike when they were parents. They develop a new lease on life and have more energy.
• Elderly who have these relationships are less depressed, maintain better health and are overall more satisfied with their life.
• They play the role of teacher and feel they are needed while children also teach them new things like how to use the internet.
• Their relationship with a special child can help them leave a powerful legacy.
• Keeps elders from being isolated

With aged care at home, seniors in Australia can choose to be more active and children are the magic that makes this happen. There are some great programs that can make this easy for both groups. They can spend time on projects together such as clay work and painting. With these shared projects there is a common ground to interact and have deeper conversations, which builds great long-term relationships.

Each group can visit the other at their facilities. Early learning and aged care at home facilities can trade days and optimise the best times to visit. By doing this, each group discovers new things and the goal of being more socially active for both is being met. Shared activities create a more natural atmosphere and is healthier for both groups. Some shared activities to include are:

• Storytelling and swapping stories
• Learning skills
• Planting seeds and gardening
• Reading together
• Telling jokes
• The child teaches the senior a new technology
• Talking about hobbies

One trend that Australia is trying to do is putting aged care and childcare centres together. They would have a common kitchen and leisure facilities making it easier for these groups to interact. This creates more of a home-like environment benefiting them both.

For more inspiration on improving the quality of aged care at home, contact us at The Aged Care Channel (ACC).