‘Playing with children good for the elderly’

A STUDY by lecturers at the University of Stellenbosch (SU) found that when retirement home residents played with pre-schoolers, it had a positive impact on their mental well-being.

The research was conducted by Dr Elizabeth Earl and Dr Debbie Marais of SU’s Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. The study was recently published in the peer-reviewed journal PLoS ONE.

Residents at a retirement home in the Cape Peninsula Organisation for the Aged complex connected to a pre-school were asked to complete a questionnaire on mental health and were interviewed about their interactions with the pre-schoolers.

The interactions took place twice a week, when the children would join the residents for a supervised 60-minute session of interactive games, such as passing a ball or building puzzles.

The residents can also choose additional volunteer work, such as reading sessions with the children. The children also do activities with the residents on special occasions, such as singing songs with them on public holidays.

The researchers said: “By forming relationships with the children, older people felt connected to a community and developed a sense of belonging in society, which in turn influenced their well-being at the home. They re-identified with roles, which wgave them a sense of purpose, and they valued their contribution to the lives of the children.

“The intergenerational interactions provided the older people with the ability to embody the traditional roles of grandparents again. They valued the individual relationship with the children, as they felt important through being remembered individually by the children. They also described developing a feeling of familial connection with the children. Engaging with the children also reminded them of the greater community to which they belong.”

The intergenerational interactions also brought back fond memories and evoked a sense of playfulness that helped improve the older people’s mood. The researchers said the interactions might also serve as an additional non-drug intervention for managing common mental health conditions in older people living in retirement homes. |