BENTLEY seniors have been forming special friendships with young children with disabilities, thanks to a partnership between SwanCare and Carson St School.
Residents living at SwanCare’s Waminda aged care facility have become “adopted grannies and grandpas” for young special needs children from the school, as part of an interactive program that is bridging intergenerational gaps.
SwanCare’s partnership with the school has seen it become a finalist in the Aged and Community Services Australia (ACSA) excellence in care awards.
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READ NOWSwanCare chief executive Graham Francis said the annual ACSA awards were an important opportunity to recognise excellence in the not-for-profit aged and community care sector.
“We are proud to have been recognised by Australia’s peak not-for-profit aged care industry body in this way,” he said.
He said the intergenerational partnership helped break down barriers between young and old people, while contributing to the seniors’ sense of “belonging to the community”.
“It’s important for people in aged care to continue feeling a sense of purpose, meaning and belonging; by helping young children practice their literacy skills they can impart some of their own wisdom while gaining a sense of achievement and reward themselves,” he said.
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