Fostering therapeutic relationships through intergenerational engagement
Lucy Dawson and Adele Warwick, Wren Hall Nursing Home
left to right: Adele and Lucy
Wren Hall Nursing Home aims to bring people together through purposeful, mutually beneficial activities which promote greater understanding and engagement between generations, enabling inclusion, engagement and the development of therapeutic relationships. Little Wrens Nursery opened in March 2018 (at the same time as we joined the Teaching Care Homes programme), looking after the children of staff working at Wren 
Hall. From the very beginning, the children were welcomed into the home and were integrated with the ladies and gents. We are really excited by the work that the home and nursery are doing together, it has given us all a boost. We are also really pleased to be able to share it through the Teaching Care Homes programme.
On a regular basis the children and ladies and gents are cooking (left), eating and drinking together; they are joining in with singing and dancing; being creative with a variety of craft activities including pumpkin carving; and enjoying the outdoors in the sensory garden and playing crazy golf.
We hosted a Tea Dance in May (right), a Fun Day, a Strawberry Fayre, held a cake competition and also a trip to the pantomime.
We are continually striving to improve the quality of life for the ladies and gents and the introduction of the children had an instant impact on their wellbeing. As the two generations come together, we can see excitement and recognition for both groups. The ladies and gents are seen to be nurturing and affectionate to the children, and in return, the children are entertaining, demonstrating open love and affection. As the months have passed, we believe that therapeutic relationships are forming, resulting in genuine connections that are meaningful to both the ladies and gents and the children. This is what we have seen…
Our future plans are to ensure that this ethos becomes embedded into everyday life within the home and to build on the relationships that have developed. This will include getting to know more about the Little Wrens, learning about their ‘likes’ and ‘dislikes’, so that we can encourage meaningful activities for all involved. We also want to continue to facilitate a sense of adventure with more joint trips out.
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You may also be interested in this earlier article.