KWAG has been organizing seniors programs since 2011, always with good response, and staff were looking to expand the programming to make a meaningful impact in the lives of seniors living with dementias. “There’s actually a fair bit of research showing that seniors benefit from programs connecting them with youth,” notes Nicole Neufeld, Director of Public Programs. Kate Carder-Thompson, KWAG’s School Programs Coordinator, suggested Queen Elizabeth Public School as a school that could benefit from participating in the program. And since a key component of a successful program involving schools is a committed teacher, the enthusiasm of educator Marko Sirotic clinched the school’s participation.

Once Queen Elizabeth PS agreed to take part, the Alzheimer’s Society provided the children with training regarding dementia and Alzheimer’s so they could help support the seniors’ participation.  A number of the students were already aware of the illness, says Carder-Thompson: “Even in my first sessions with the kids, several of them let me know that they had family members with dementia or Alzheimer’s, so already understood its impact on short term versus long term memory.” Generally, it was a case of raising the students’ comfort level before they met the senior participants. And then, says, Neufeld, “It was just ‘make art and hang out and have a good time’!”

Program participants, young and old, worked together to create large scale banners on sheer fabric, inspired by Ron Benner’s Trans/mission: 101 garden installation. The resulting pieces are “multi-faceted, multi-layered and textural,” says Carder-Thompson, and slated for display both at Queen Elizabeth PS and at the Alzheimer’s Society. “They’ll be hung vertically one in front of the other so that you can see through them wherever paint hasn’t been applied.”

The project started off slowly but quickly built momentum. “The first session everyone was keen but shy on both ends,” says Carder-Thompson. “But by the second week, there was loads of interaction, there was hand holding, there were kids actively getting advice on the art project from the seniors and vice versa.” By the third week, she notes, it was ‘game on’! “There were students painting with Ken, who is 94 years old, scrambling to finish what they were doing, and then ‘high fiving’ him when they were done.” She notes that the objective isn’t necessarily to end up with a beautiful finished product (although the resulting banners certainly are beautiful), but the process through which meaningful interaction between the students and the seniors takes place.

Both Neufeld and Carder-Thompson are delighted with the success of the workshop, which ran for four weeks in October. The participants on both ends of the age spectrum have attended with enthusiasm, Carder Thompson notes. “When the bus pulled up, the kids ran to get into the building, they were excited to be here. And the seniors … when they arrived, they were smiling, and looking forward to reconnecting with the kids they had partnered in previous weeks.”

For more information on this and other programs at KWAG, visit kwag.ca.