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Bringing children and older people together through food: the promotion of intergenerational relationships across preschool, school and care home settings

Bringing children and older people together through food: the promotion of intergenerational... This paper aims to explore how food-focused social activities are a route for promoting intergenerational relationships, well-being and dietary benefits among residents in care homes and children in preschool/schools.Design/methodology/approachUsing a case study methodology, this study undertook staff-focused research on a 26-month UK programme in 12 partnership clusters, involving a range of growing, cooking, eating and community activities.FindingsStaff reported benefits for older people, including improved mood, surfacing positive memories, new personal connections and relief from feelings of boredom and loneliness. Children were reported to develop in-depth relationships, greater empathy and overcame negative preconceptions. Food-based activities enabled all parties to express caring and nurturing in tangible and often non-verbal ways.Originality/valueFood-based activities appear to have specific material and emotive characteristics that resonate with the intergenerational interests of older people and children. Using mainly in-house resources, this study showed that it is feasible to generate novel food-based practices between children’s education and care home sectors. A “test-and-learn” programme model is recommended, given sensitivities and complexity associated with food-based activities and the limited organizational capacity of care home and early education service providers. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Working with Older People Emerald Publishing

Bringing children and older people together through food: the promotion of intergenerational relationships across preschool, school and care home settings

Jones, Mat; Ismail, Sanda Umar
Working with Older People , Volume 26 (2): 11 – Apr 28, 2022
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References (19)

Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
© Emerald Publishing Limited
ISSN
1366-3666
eISSN
1366-3666
DOI
10.1108/wwop-11-2021-0059
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

This paper aims to explore how food-focused social activities are a route for promoting intergenerational relationships, well-being and dietary benefits among residents in care homes and children in preschool/schools.Design/methodology/approachUsing a case study methodology, this study undertook staff-focused research on a 26-month UK programme in 12 partnership clusters, involving a range of growing, cooking, eating and community activities.FindingsStaff reported benefits for older people, including improved mood, surfacing positive memories, new personal connections and relief from feelings of boredom and loneliness. Children were reported to develop in-depth relationships, greater empathy and overcame negative preconceptions. Food-based activities enabled all parties to express caring and nurturing in tangible and often non-verbal ways.Originality/valueFood-based activities appear to have specific material and emotive characteristics that resonate with the intergenerational interests of older people and children. Using mainly in-house resources, this study showed that it is feasible to generate novel food-based practices between children’s education and care home sectors. A “test-and-learn” programme model is recommended, given sensitivities and complexity associated with food-based activities and the limited organizational capacity of care home and early education service providers.

Journal

Working with Older People – Emerald Publishing

Published: Apr 28, 2022

Keywords: Loneliness and social isolation; Test-and-learn; Intergenerational; Well-being; Diet; Care homes; Older people

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