The Teri Project

Status: Ongoing

Toronto Canada

Print this page City population: 279435617% over 60Practice started in 2021

Summary

This initiative aims to address social isolation amongst residents of long-term care (LTC) homes by building intergenerational friendships with university students. The students participate as a part of their undergraduate internships from the fields of Nursing, Social Work and Child and Youth Care programs. The older residents and students are connected to build one-on-one friendships through weekly visits, consistent communication, and fun, meaningful conversations. This program has involved collaboration between Toronto Metropolitan University, 8 LTC homes, and 100 participants to date.

This initiative emphasizes that meaningful connections are needed in combatting social isolation. The connections here are built on mutual empathetic and caring relationships where all parties feel cared for, included, and can have fun.

While the older participants live in close quarters with many others, the residents participate because they have few meaningful social connections which normally contributes to loneliness, social isolation, and depression. Many residents have dementia, mobility challenges, and language barriers that put them at further risk for social isolation. The students meet with residents to emotionally and empathetically connect in order to build a meaningful bond. The pairs also engage in art and storytelling to enhance this connection.

Website: https://www.torontomu.ca/fcs/socialinnovation/the-teri-project/

Key facts

Main target group: Both younger and older people (i.e. intergenerational)

Other target group(s): Residents of long-term care homes, individuals with Dementia, mental health (social isolation/depression)

Sector(s): Long-term care

Other sector(s): Intergenerational, mental health

Desired outcome for older people:
Build and maintain relationships

Other issues the Age-friendly practice aims to address:

Ageism
Dementia
Healthy behaviours (e.g. physical activity)
Intergenerational activities
Inclusion
Participation

Contact details

Name: Cicchelli, Taryn

Email address: taryn.cicchelli@torontomu.ca

Preferred language(s): English

Age-friendly practice in detail (click to expand):

Engaging the wider community

Project lead: Other

How collaboration worked: This project is run by the program director that oversees the students, seniors, and community connections. The two sides of this initiative are the students at the university, and the seniors in the long-term care homes. The program runs out of Toronto Metropolitan University in the Faculty of Community Services. The university covers the cost of production. The long-term care homes are valuable partners that provide the connections with the seniors. This program builds partnerships with long-term care homes in the community in order to create intergenerational connections.

Older people’s involvement: Older people were involved in the age-friendly practice at multiple or all stages

Details on older people’s involvement: The experience of the seniors are at the core of this program. The students work to meet the needs and wants of their elderly partners and frequently seek feedback and suggestions for new activities and conversation topics.

Moving forward

Has the impact of this age-friendly practice been analysed: No

Do you plan to evaluate your age-friendly practice? No

Feedback:
We have received feedback from the senior participants expressing gratitude for their new connection and happiness in making a new friend and having new experiences. We have also received positive feedback from the staff at the long-term care homes saying that the residents have been smiling more since participating in the program and that it helps with socialization.

Expansion plans:
We hope to grow our capacity through funding and exposure in order to connect with more seniors across the province.

Looking back

Challenges:
The Teri Project ran entirely virtually for the first year and a half which led to multiple challenges. It was sometimes difficult to connect with residents over Zoom due to scheduling complications and issues with technology. The virtual experience created some barriers engaging in conversation such as volume on the devices not being loud enough for residents with hearing challenges and interruptions from poor internet connection. We overcame these challenges by offering alternatives and adjustments to meet the needs of residents. For example, residents with hearing challenges were given bluetooth speakers to connect to their device in order to enhance the volume. When possible, a staff member would sit with the resident and translate so the resident could understand the student over Zoom. We also found creative ways to use Zoom to have fun and use online games and activities when conversations were not possible.