Connecting Care Homes & Communities Share the Learning Event

In June 2022 LGNI celebrated the end of our yearlong Connecting Care Homes and Communities project with a very fitting virtual online session that involved our funding partners the LFT Charitable Trust and many of the Care Homes who took part in the project. The project was delivered throughout the Covid pandemic, and in response to the increasing isolation of older people in care homes that this brought.

Project Aims

The project aim was to build intergenerational capacity within Care settings, empowering them to take the lead on developing intergenerational connections in their communities to keep residents connected in a safe way to the outside world.

As well as the initial training, we continued to build relationships with Care staff, linking them in with our NI network, sharing ideas, resources and supporting them to create and develop these ideas.  As a result:

• Staff in all of the participating care settings have been equipped and empowered with the skills and confidence to develop their own intergenerational links and have delivered intergenerational activity
• All settings have established an intergenerational link in their local community which they plan to further develop in the future
• Care setting residents and younger people have been involved in intergenerational activity albeit at a distance
• Awareness of intergenerational practice as a tool for care homes and impact of project increased through ECHO care home grouping & ICP (Attend and share LGNI opportunities re intergenerational activities and training etc at monthly ECHO groupings, network meetings, Loneliness networks meetings etc) and new enthusiasm for engagement with LGNI and intergenerational developed with more care homes as a result of the Sharing Learning online event and additional training offerings.

Project Legacy

The project’s ultimate outcome was for Care Homes and Settings to see intergenerational practice as a way to do things differently to achieve existing care Home standards meaning sustainability would be more likely.  When we asked the participating settings if intergenerational work can help them to achieve care home outcomes and benefit residents lives they told us:

“Yes it follows all RQIA Guidelines so helps us to fulfil various areas of the those required elements.”

We believe this project has paved the way for a new approach within Care settings to improve the lives of residents and encourage the development of meaningful links within the communities where they are based.

Full Connecting Care Homes and Communities Report

If you or your setting are interested in intergenerational work with Care Homes please get in touch with Lynne.Bennett@bjf.org.uk