Intergenerational relationships are essential to both the elderly and the young on an emotional level. By understanding the importance of these relationships, people are able to value the role of older people in society, and they will then encourage the elderly to participate in various activities.
What are intergenerational relationships?
Intergenerational relationships simply refer to contact or coexistence with people of different ages. A key aspect of these relationships is the fact that older people tend to have more experience, and this means they are able to modify their outlook on life.
In this way, intergenerational relationships have benefits both to society and younger generations.
Connecting generations: a long-term goal
Older people are essential to society. If we compromise the happiness of the elderly, we will end up impacting younger generations negatively. This, in turn, affects society in general.
Young people need to learn from people who have already experienced life as this will help them understand how the world works. Also, older people need to be given a chance to actively contribute to the world as this will help them remember that they still have a lot to offer the world.
With intergenerational relationships, older and younger people are connected in a system where the age difference becomes an advantage and not a hindrance. For this reason, society needs to ensure that contact between people of different generations is maintained.
Here are some ways in which society can promote intergenerational family relations:
• It can encourage solidarity between people of different ages.
• It can encourage active ageing from a physical, psychological, and emotional perspective.
• It can highlight the main values of a society and try to put them into practice.
• It can focus on ending age discrimination.
• It can try to tackle age-related stereotypes.
Benefits of intergenerational relationships in the elderly
Older people are able to understand younger people, and they are always curious to find out what the younger generation likes, what they worry about, and how they behave. By encouraging intergenerational relationships, elderly people are able to participate in society, and they will feel better received. The world will also no longer be strange to them as they will keep in touch with younger people.
After creating an environment of understanding and solidarity among the elderly and younger generations, society will quickly experience the benefits of these relationships. Here are a few advantages the society will experience from such relationships:
• It will increase their self-esteem and help them regain their self-confidence.
• When an elderly person interacts with younger people regularly, their loneliness will be banished, and this will create an optimistic atmosphere.
• By interacting with younger people, the elderly are able to tackle new challenges, and this ensures that they never stop learning.
• Encouraging intergenerational family relations ensures that integration becomes normal in society.
• The contact between older and younger people allows the elderly to maintain active lifestyles, and this can keep them healthy, both physically and mentally.
How do the elderly contribute to society?
Integrating older people into society does not just benefit older people. Once their contributions to society start being valued, younger generations will be more capable of assimilating the positive aspects of their elders. As they grow up, they will appreciate the shared life experiences. Here are some benefits young people can experience from intergenerational relations:
• Young people are able to rediscover the benefits of family relationships and their roots.
• Young people can lose their fear of what other people think.
• They can acquire new tools that will help them face the great challenges of life, as well as the daily smaller challenges.
• Young people are able to get a sense of what really matters in their lives.
• They are also able to understand that they have a lot to learn about life.
At Cuidum, we understand that older people have a lot to contribute to society. For this reason, we promote relationships between younger and older generations. This is an essential aspect of active ageing. The professionals in our organisations have to recognise the importance of elder people in society, and they are tasked with facilitating contact between older and younger people. By opening up communication channels, we are able to promote cohesion, understanding, and solidarity among different generations.
