The Government of Canada has awarded Conestoga’s Schlegel Centre for Advancing Seniors Care $25,000 through its New Horizons for Seniors Program to expand its community and facilitate intergenerational mentoring and learning.
Learning Together: Bridging the Generation Gap aims to encourage seniors to engage with their community, support volunteerism among seniors and foster the social participation and inclusion of seniors by providing them opportunities to interact with students and faculty, share care and life experiences and build meaningful relationships.
“Seniors have a lifetime of experience,” said Dr. Veronique Boscart, executive director of the Schlegel Centre for Advancing Seniors Care and executive dean of the School of Health & Life Sciences at Conestoga. ”We need to give them opportunities to share their knowledge and skills, as well as help younger generations understand the value they bring and adjustments they require. Students, no matter their field of study, will be interacting with seniors once they graduate.”
Boscart will serve as the lead for the project, and work in collaboration with Schlegel Villages and the Breithaupt Community Centre to involve seniors living in the community and retirement homes.
Learning Together: Bridging the Generation Gap is among one of five projects to be funded through the New Horizons for Seniors Program. In total, the Government of Canada will invest $125,000 to empower seniors, encourage them to share their knowledge, skills and experience, and enhance seniors' well-being and community vitality.
For more information, visit the New Horizons for Seniors Program page on the federal government's website.
The Schlegel Centre for Advancing Seniors Care at Conestoga College works in collaboration with Schlegel Villages and the Schlegel-UW Research Institute for Aging to develop innovative education, improve workforce development and strengthen care practices to support care for seniors and their families across Canada. It provides a hub for collaboration with partners to advance training and practice approaches and share best practices and resources to enhance seniors care and living.
For more information about the broad range of programming available through Conestoga’s School of Health & Life Sciences, visit www.conestoga.ca/health.