Promoting Intergenerational Practice as a Tool to Empower Older People.

Description

In the past, intergenerational activity seemed natural with families and people of different generations living in close contact. However, society has changed and with geographical mobility opportunities for positive relationship between the generations has become less accessible. At the same time, the pandemic has had a negative impact on all our lives. Intergenerational practice has been found to reduce loneliness and isolation, build friendships and social connections, increase community cohesion, reduce ageism, increase wellbeing, enhance skill sharing, increase confidence. It is empowering as it provides opportunities for older people to make mutually beneficial decisions with younger people.
FCC took the first steps in adopting an approach whereby projects, where possible, take an intergenerational approach, thereby putting in place a process to ensure that both young and older people are active partners in devising and participating in programmes. This will ensure that the benefits of intergenerational practices are firmly woven into initiatives into the future. The process began in 2022 with a masterclass for managers of community facilities and staff on intergenerational practice, followed by accredited training for staff and partner organisations, to ensure stakeholders were well equipped to adopt this new approach. A number of successful and sustainable projects have taken place including Cricket4All and Balbriggan Intergenerational Project (BIP).

Cricket4All a multi-ability, intergenerational project designed to introduce to provide young people with disabilities and older adults to cricket, was first introduced as a pilot project in 2022 by FCC and Cricket Leinster. While Cricket4All can be played by different age and ability groups, it is also suitable for players of different ages and abilities to play together. The project commenced in Balbriggan with training for key stakeholders. Taster sessions took place in local venues and clubs to recruit participants and weekly coaching sessions for younger people and older people initially took place separately in Balbriggan Cricket Club. Participants were coached in table cricket, walking cricket and adapted cricket suitable for all abilities. When each group was familiar with the games and their group, mixed training sessions began. The older participants enjoyed learning a new skill and contributed to the project by helping the younger people. They were not asked to help but took it upon themselves to do so and each found a role within the project, providing them with a sense of generativity. The pilot project finished with the first C4All Competition with teams consisting of players with mixed abilities and mixed age. An evaluation was undertaken of the pilot and changes made accordingly. Guidelines for schools, clubs and social groups were produced and are available nationwide. Following the success of the pilot project, its sustainability was ensured by including it as part of the annual SLA between Fingal CC and Cricket Leinster.
Balbriggan intergenerational Project (BIP) was initially established as a shared island initiative following a successful funding application to the Department of Foreign Affairs Shared Island Fund. This was a collaboration between Age Friendly Fingal and Linking Generations Northern Ireland. Intergenerational Projects took place in Newry and Balbriggan with both groups meeting regularly to provide updates on their projects and evaluate methods and outcomes of intergenerational practice in two different communities.
BIP is a collaboration between Age Friendly Fingal and Foroige and commenced as part of the shared island initiative and while the shared island project has finished, BIP have continued to work together to address the challenges identified. Balbriggan as one of the fastest growing, multicultural towns in Fingal, experiencing significant social change, as an ideal location to facilitate bringing old and young residents together to collaborate on the challenges and opportunities of their area. The identification and agreement on the challenge to be addressed, “a lack of suitable, accessible, informal safe space for all abilities and all ages”, was carefully considered over 3-4 meetings of the group. The process of gaining the views of others was agreed through a questionnaire which was developed by the group and distributed among their peers. Skills acquired during this process included photography skills, development of a questionnaire, working as a team and IT skills for the completion of the online survey. The group met with representatives from FCC who have asked that the results of the survey be shared with decision makers.
This group have indicated that following the current initiative that they continue to expand to look at other challenges within their community. To ensure its sustainability, Foroige have agreed to host this project. Age Friendly Fingal will adopt this approach in other towns and villages across the county as the rapid rate of change continues. The team have already identified another regeneration village in Fingal for support in developing a similar project to feed into its village plans and will be seeking future external and internal funding to support this approach towards building safe sustainable communities.

Aim of Initiative

To provide opportunities for older people to engage with younger people and mutually agree an activity or initiative for them to engage in together. While the aim is to build relationships, it also provides both groups with an opportunity to make a difference and possibly influence local decision making.

Who is it aimed at

Older and Younger People

3 Steps critical to success

1. Training. Training for leaders is essential to ensure they fully understand intergenerational practice, the steps required, and the hard work is required to ensure good and appropriate relationships are built and sustained.
   Training for participants is also required to ensure they understand the process, are aware of ageism and attitudes to the opposite age group and are committed to giving it a go.
2. Participants. Identifying the appropriate participants is necessary to ensure relationships can develop and maintained and the project sustained.
   Getting buy-in can be time-consuming but worthwhile.
   Informal, fun activities are essential to create an attractive environment from the beginning and to sustain interest during the project.
3. Logistics. Venue and times must be suitable and accessible to both groups. Agreeing rules at the start of the project is essential i.e. venue and times for meetings, no phones in use, listening and accepting others views, open discussion etc.
   Long-term planning should be considered to ensure the initiative continues to grow and becomes embedded in our work, leading to intergenerational communities.
   Using an appropriate name is crucial and it is recommended to avoid using the term ‘intergenerational’ initially due to a misunderstanding of what it entails. Participants on these projects participated due to an interest in sport, the opportunity to help others and an interest in meeting people from another community. The idea of working with the ‘other’ age group in itself, was not a reason for participating.

3 Challenges in Planning / Delivery

1. Recruiting and retaining suitable participants can be challenging. Time and effort required to ensure good relationships are built and sustained.
2. Maintaining interest throughout the project. While the older participants tend to commit to complete the project, often younger people change their minds. This has been due to in part from pressure from their peers who are not involved.
3. Ensuring inclusion, equality, and respect among participants with regard to their views and ideas can be challenging initially. Work is required to ensure that ideas can be discussed openly and while not necessarily agreeing, participants accept the views of others.

3 Outcomes / Benefits

1. Reduced ageism by both groups as they develop a deeper understanding of older and younger people. One young participant on being asked what she had learned about older people, her reply was “the are still living their first live”. In other words, they continue to learn and develop, even in later life.
   A greater understanding of the challenges identified by both age groups and a recognition of their similarities.
2. An opportunity not only to work with another age group but also to work with people with disabilities and people from other communities. The older ladies were enlightened with informal discussions on how covid has impacted on younger people. Younger participants spoke about the chance to chat to older people on equal terms, which differs from their relationships with their grandparents. They enjoyed sharing stories and skills
3. While fun was apparent in both projects, C4All was singled out by the Mayor, Cllr Adrian Henchy when asked for the highlight during his Term of Office.
   In BIP, the achievement of agreement on a shared challenge and shared vision on how to overcome this challenge, with a ability to impact on decision making in their community was empowering