October 02, 2019 - 1206 views
Coleg Llandrillo's Health and Social Care students recently organised an intergenerational event in partnership with the local authority.
It involved inviting local elderly people to spend a day at college with fifteen young students to discuss a variety of subject matters, with the intention of breaking the social barriers between younger and older people.
The guests, who all live in a sheltered housing complex in Old Colwyn, were joined in the Institute of Health and Social Care at the Rhos-on-Sea campus by representatives from their housing association, Cartrefi Conwy.
The students planned the event as part of their course module.The fundamental goal of the workshop was to encourage all parties to get to know each other and make further efforts to build relationships.
The students moved around five 'stations', completing arts and crafts activities with different tenants, which afforded them the chance to demonstrate their communication skills, such as eye contact, body language and active listening. The session encouraged the two groups to socialise, exchange thoughts and engage in a selection of activities and aimed to change perceptions that the age groups may have of each other.
One of the visitors, Maureen Maxwell, said: "It has been a thoroughly marvellous day. They were very sociable, caring and well-behaved, and saw us as equals not just old people.
"It was great to work alongside the young students; they were inspirational. If I was to say one thing to each student, it would be this, 'be a credit to yourselves'
One student, Naomi Hughes from Penmaenmawr, said: "We all really enjoyed spending time with the residents. It was especially rewarding to hear all their stories. We were able to communicate in a relaxed atmosphere and some of their childhood stories were amazing".
Health and Social Care lecturer Kate Farmer said: "The day was a comprehensive succes - feedback received from both groups was tremendously positive.
"These students are hopefully our health care professionals of the future and it is essential that we, as educational providers, understand some of the issues and concerns that the older generation have identified.
We aimed to alter the misconceptions and stereotypes that sometimes exist between different generations, whilst having fun".
