Year 11 and 12 students at Woodman’s Hill Secondary College have been visiting aged care residents at Ballarat Health Services’ aged care facilities, creating activities to be used during their time at the centres and helping to bridge a generational gap.
At the Geoffrey Cutter Centre students can be seen playing checkers, trivia and bingo with the residents while one group set up a steering wheel and accelerator pedal to help a resident drive a car in a computer game.
Geoffrey Cutter Centre Acting Nurse Unit Manager Margo Cunningham said the students were a breath of fresh air for the residents.
“When the students spend time with residents, they get a sense of self-worth and purpose. The residents are stimulated by the student. The project has also given the students the opportunity to show empathy and understanding of elderly members of their community and it’s uplifting for them that the students want to spend time with them.”
Maybe we could all take a leaf out of the students’ book and spend a little time with someone special.
