By Cam Lucadou-Wells
Every Tuesday, storytime lights up Mercy Place aged care home in Dandenong.
But in a role reversal, Year 2 students from St Mary’s Catholic Primary School are the ones reading to the adults.
It’s part of an intergenerational program that has bonded the young and old.
Mercy Place Dandenong general manager Ralf Pelz said the half-hour visits “keeps our residents young”.
“They love the children so much and the connections that have developed between the residents and children are beautiful.
“The residents’ faces light up when the children arrive, in particular our Memory Support Unit residents.
“Even though some of them aren’t able to communicate that well, they seem to engage really well with the children.”
The program is designed to help the residents “re-engage with the world” and “reignite their sense of fun and play.”
‘After the visits, the residents are a lot more cheerful and they seem to be engaging more.”
St Mary’s Primary teacher Rena Walsh said there were benefits too for the children – and not just in practising their reading.
“To watch the children grow from feeling quite reserved at the first visit to now approaching the residents themselves and beginning conversations is evidence of their eagerness to be part of this relationship.”
The school is planning to also bring its choir and band to entertain the residents before Christmas.
