Imagine young adults and seniors living together and learning from one another.
That was the goal of a new first-of-its-kind social experiment driven by Northern Health and UNBC, which placed students in the same facility as residents in assisted care and understanding the positives with intergenerational living.
Students were accepted into the InterAGE pilot project, one for the Fall semester and one for the Winter, were placed into a living area ‘not allocated for use’ at the Gateway Lodge, a Northern Health conducted facility, spending 10 hours a week for four months interacting with the residents, eating with them, doing recreational activities, and learning from them.
Zachery Fleck, a third-year International Studies major at UNBC, was one of those students.
“It’s been great to reflect on everything I’ve learned, everything I’ve experienced, and all the really meaningful relationships that I’ve made since I’ve lived here,” he explained to the media and some residents he had the opportunity to interact with. “The other great thing about it is that I’ve been able to participate in a course that I wouldn’t have otherwise been able to be exposed to, and so there’s been a ton of things I’ve learned and have been able to connect with, and really create brand new perspectives.”
He added there was a personal connection to being part of the program as some of his own family members are ageing too.
“My own grandparents are kind of transitioning into assisted living as well, or possibly could be, so I saw it as a good opportunity to come in here and learn what an assisted living situation would look like and to be able to learn from all the residents here.”
Residents at the Gateway Lodge also shared what they appreciated about the program, with the feeling of family being one of the more popular responses.
“Socializing and having something to do is what stood out for me,” said resident John, whose lived in the facility since March 2018. “Getting out of my own chair, having vocal discussions with young people, and I liked the lectures open to residents; they were a great learning experience.”
Resident Rose said she enjoyed interacting with Zachery and that he took an interest in everyone’s life experiences.
“He asked about our history and was wanting to hear our stories. He had a good leadership in planning and running the programs. We all felt a bonding with Zach like he was part of the family.”
Moving forward and due to the success of the InterAGE program, UNBC and Northern Health are now looking for new applicants for the 2019-2020 Fall semester.
For Professor Dawn Hemingway, who was an overseer of the pilot project, she believes this could influence more housing projects that involve intergenerational tenants and be a possible solution to a lack of options.
“The interesting part for me is seeing how the materials shifts as residents raise different questions that are important to them and the students were able to talk about those questions as well, “ she said. “So seeing the life impacts from both sides has been fantastic, and the research will go a long way through this inter-living experience. Hopefully this will enable some plans for other types of housing in Prince George because we probably have the fastest growing population in the province among seniors.”
According to UNBC, this is believed to be the first-ever research project in B.C, and in Canada to coordinate inter-living among different generations of residents and collect evidence-based results.
Interested students wanting to take part in the program is asked to visit the UNBC website.
