Intergenerational relationships. What is it, why is it important and how to we go about building them? What are intergenerational relationships? Intergenerational relationships also referred to as cross-generational relationships are easily explained as relationships, friendships or close family relationships that span generations.
This would translate to different ages of people coming together to spend quality time, relating, telling stories and generally becoming close and learning from each other. One of the most challenging things for any person to fight, much less a senior, is loneliness. Loneliness can cause numerous outcomes in people, especially seniors, including:. We also know that close personal relationships helps to offset these risks. The reality is, as friends our own age and perhaps even our spouse pass away, we may find ourselves more isolated, where once there was a circle of friends.
Intergenerational relationships not only help to increase our circle of friends and fight loneliness, but they help us to see the world in different ways, which is good for our brains. Think about the people who are currently in your life and their ages.
Are most of them your own age or relatively close? If yes, this means that you need to step up your friend game and begin to include people of all ages. Even those who are 20 years younger have much to offer when it comes to friendship. Here are different age groups of people and what mutual benefit you can be to each other in an intergenerational relationship:.
Children see the world with fresh eyes, unscathed by experiences they have later in life. They have an unbridled enthusiasm about everything around them and have so much vitality to offer. Spending time with kids of all ages can help to see the world differently and to enjoy the little things. They also derive a lot of pleasure from simple things, like playing and coloring, which can be quite enjoyable for most seniors to rediscover.
