IPP Canada 2008

Theme

Across the years – Intergenerational Understanding

Location

Toronto, Canada

Dates

July 6th – July 22th 2008

Delegations

Hungary, Portugal, Denmark, Italy, Honduras, Sweden, Czech Republic, Colombia and Canada

Partner Organisation

West Park Long Term Care Centre

Description

For almost the last hundred years in many western and western influenced cultures there has been a bias towards youth. Young people are seen as leaders in most cultural manifestations – music, art, fashion, dance, etc. They are also often given the role as social and political arbiters with an ability to offer innocent and fresh insights and opinions. In some cultures, people of older generations are portrayed by youth-obsessed media as almost inhuman or just objects of ridicule – senile, of limited intelligence, prejudiced, out-of-touch. This project aims to explore and challenge this widely-held view with an examination of intergenerational understanding and communications. Discussions and seminars about this topic by participants will be supported and reinforced with work with seniors at the West Park Hospital Long Term Care Centre. Centre residents – some of whom are quite elderly – face often severe limits on their mobility and thus interaction with the world. This program brings the world to them and fosters contacts and communications that span both the world and generations. CISV suggests that we can look at people from different cultures and say “how alike am I to you”. This IPP looks at this alikeness – but across the barriers of age rather than language and culture.

Participants will plan and engage in individual and group activities with the resident of the Long Term Centre such as creating a lasting improvement to resident’s lives with co-operative development of the Centre Garden and outdoor patio or assisting mobile residents to go on recreational or educational visits. Furthermore they will delopment individual relationships through visiting, walking and reading programs.

Contact

Local: Wendy Dines, Project Co-ordinator: Sarah Montgomery

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