Innovative daycare to benefit young and old

COLUMBIA — An elderly woman waits silently at her table and stares blankly at the space in front of her. She picks up the paintbrush and watercolors in front of her and begins to doodle. She was once an accomplished artist, but her Alzheimer’s disease has taken that life.

The rest of the room is silent as well, everyone isolated in his or her own space. No one is willing to interact with the peers who surround them.

The doors open, and a large group of children flood the room. Suddenly, the atmosphere changes as conversation and enthusiasm overwhelm this previously somber area.

A child sits down next to the woman and her painting. He picks up the brush and smears paint all over the beautiful oceanfront scene. There was no anger in the face of the woman. She just smiled, held the child’s hand and began an impromptu painting lesson.

That was the scene Richard Hessler recalls during his visit to ONEgeneration in Van Nuys, Calif. It serves as the model program for intergenerational day-care centers nationwide. It is one of the reasons that Hessler, a professor emeritus at MU and expert in the field of aging, proposed the idea to Boone Hospital Center.

Boone Hospital will soon be opening the first intergenerational day-care center in Missouri. The facility will serve up to 60 seniors and 104 children. Although there are more than 500 centers with some form of intergenerational care nationwide, there are only a handful with a complete focus.

Participants will not live at the Boone Intergenerational Daycare Center. It operates from 6:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., and families can enroll their children or seniors in the program. Each day, there are eight scheduled activities when the seniors and children interact.

The project has already raised more than $4 million, said Jan Grossman, Boone Hospital Foundation director. Grossman said the project will break ground when the campaign has raised $5 million.

“Boone serves a large percentage of the senior population,” Grossman said. “So it fit in with the Boone Hospital mission.”

Another reason Boone Hospital trustees were receptive to the idea is the abundance of research that has shown the benefits of the intergenerational program. Some of the most astounding facts from that research are the health results.

“We found that social networks are vastly important in longevity of seniors,” Hessler said. “They have also shown to have a positive effect on the immune system.”

Research has also shown such centers reduce post-stroke depression as well as the time needed for rehabilitation.

“Intergenerational centers are changing the progression of Alzheimer’s, as well,” Hessler said. “If you get great pleasure from something, you’re going to remember it.”

These centers also offer an opportunity for seniors to stay at home longer and spend more time with their families. They are a great alternative to nursing homes, which Hessler said are no longer effective.

“Nursing homes are not a solution,” Hessler said. “They are too expensive, difficult to run, and kill the economy if they are the only solution. They are necessary, but we need to try everything else first.”

Hessler said the cost of running a nursing home is enormous for the community, and, as a result, Medicare is draining Social Security. Intergenerational programs have been shown to cut nursing home placement by two years, which Hessler said would save billions.

Children also reap enormous benefits from intergenerational contact, according to Hessler’s research. The contact helps develop empathy, provokes positive risk-taking and teaches children how to interact with people who are different from them.

“Everyone has enormous talents,” Hessler said. “They should have an opportunity to share them with children.”

The proposed center has also addressed many of the concerns that have arisen. There will be careful health screening of all the applicants to counter transmission of diseases. Also, so that children are not only exposed to sick older people, all of the adult volunteers will be healthy. Still, Grossman said she has not heard any criticism of the project.

“Everyone I have spoken to has told me it is a great alternative to nursing homes,” Grossman said. “They are excited to have their family members home longer. The biggest challenge is that is it difficult to explain because it is new to Missouri.”

Both Hessler and Grossman hope that Columbia will soon be a research center for Alzheimer’s and other diseases associated with aging.

“This can become a model program for the rest of the country because of our location,” Grossman said.

Many of the colleges in the area are also now offering intergenerational programs in their curriculum. Moberly Area Community College has an associate’s degree in intergenerational studies, Stephens College offers a bachelor’s, Columbia College has a degree minor in the area, and William Woods University has internship opportunities with Boone Hospital.

•21,435-foot facility
•Up to 60 seniors (stroke and heart attack recovery, dementia, Parkinson’s)
•Up to 104 young children (newborn to age 6)
•8 daily structured activities
•Hours of operation: 6:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.
•Cost of construction: $5 million; $1 million to be raised for scholarship programs
•No beds or televisions to encourage activity