Intergenerational Experiences of the Elderly Service Home Residents

Abstract

Promoting the wellbeing of the individual will result in high quality of life and health over the life course. The aim of this thesis was to describe the intergenerational experiences of the elderly service home residents in Kannelmäki, Helsinki, Finland and thus promote intervention in the elderly institutions.

Qualitative research method was used in the study. The intergenerational experiences generated from the union of the elderly service home residents and the kindergarten children. Interviews were conducted among the voluntary elderly home residents in Kannelmäki. The nine residents (n=9) were interviewed individually to obtain their perspective related to the intergenerational experiences in the institution. The intergenerational activities were walking, feeding the ducks, baking, drawing, painting, handcrafts, the olympics games and the olympic gala.

The findings demonstrated that the intergenerational experiences of the elderly service home residents produced self-directing benefits, which consisted of mental stimulation, physical activity, social interaction, relationship with the children, educational benefit, satisfaction in the activity and promote entertainment. The intergenerational experiences provided a positive factor to the elderly’s experiences in the service home. Positive evidences were found from the interviews, which were beneficial to the elderly participants.

Based on the findings the implementation of intergenerational programs can be recommended to other elderly care institutions in Finland. The similarity of the activities, care providers goals and elderly residents’ motivation will result in similar findings. Another topic for the future studies could be the perspective of the medical health care professionals about the intergenerational activities in elderly care institutions.