HDFS student connects people across generations

When Kenna Embree was a senior in high school, her Nana, Agnes Kelly, was admitted to a long-term nursing care facility.

“I visited her often, and every time I went, I wondered about the other residents. Did they have family visiting? What were their stories?” said Embree, a senior majoring in Human Development and Family Studies.

The time with her Nana inspired Embree to start an intergenerational pen pal group, Seniors Friending Seniors. Embree recruited 10 of her friends from high school and paired them with a pen pal in the nursing home. After writing back and forth a few times, she organized an in-person meeting over pastries and tea.

The experience also inspired Embree’s current academic and career goals, exploring and facilitating intergenerational engagement and events. For the second summer in a row, Embree worked as an independent living intern with Vincentian Collaborative System (VCS), a faith-based, non-profit organization in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area that consists of six senior living facilities and two child development centers.

In her role, Embree organizes a variety of programs to engage residents and young people in group environments. During the summer of 2020, she helped organize a collaboration between VCS, Carlow University, and La Roche University that invited college students to live in certain VCS care facilities at a reduced rate in exchange for regular engagement with the senior residents. She also developed a new pen pal program, modeled after the success of Seniors Friending Seniors that she created while in high school.

“I wanted to make sure that residents had someone to talk to, especially because of the increased social isolation due to COVID-19,” said Embree, who also recruited friends from Penn State to participate. “For both groups, residents and college students, it’s important they get out of their social circle and interact with someone new.”

Author

Mary
Campbell

Student Experience

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Dean’s Message

In her words: Connecting older and younger generations

by Kenna Embree

Transcript

The older adults that I’ve met and connected with, either as a pen pal or now as an independent living intern, are like my adopted grandparents. I really looked up to my Nana and now I have these other grandparent figures in my life to learn from.

I’ve always had a little bit of social anxiety and struggled with the way I communicate, and I think a lot of people in my generation experience that. But writing to and meeting someone from an older generation, who brings more life experience to the table, has really helped me process some of those anxieties I’ve felt.

And I think for them, there’s a lot of social isolation in independent living and nursing home communities, so they’re really eager to connect with young people and learn new things about our lives. The new technologies and experiences that are readily available to us can also be a huge benefit to senior citizens, who just might be more isolated from those experiences.

Personally, Embree has learned patience and acceptance from her time working with senior care residents, and she sees a lot of value in creating programs for people across generations to engage with each other.

“I think each generation offers something to the others, like new things to experience and new perspectives to explore. Older generations have a lot to teach young people about how we interact and communicate with each other. And I’m sure my residents had no idea how to do yoga two years ago, and now it’s part of their weekly routine,” Embree said. “Working across generations teaches people to never judge a person based on their age. I think it’s important to eliminate the biases that people have, both about older and younger generations.”

Social isolation and consequences to the health of older adults

Penn State’s Center for Healthy Aging looks at the impact of stress on the aging body and brain. Social isolation faced by older adults, especially during the pandemic, is raising new mental health risks. However, there are things that people can do to help themselves and loved ones.

Intergenerational Pen Pals

Kenna Embree began her work in intergenerational engagement by designing pen pal programs between students and nursing home residents. In this short highlights video, produced by Embree, meet and hear from some of her first pen pal participants about their experience writing to young people.

This summer, Embree planned a multi-generational festival and a VCS cookbook so residents can share their favorite family recipes.

Embree is also working with Matthew Kaplan, a professor of intergenerational programs and aging at Penn State in the Department of Agricultural Economics, Sociology, and Education, on the Intergenerational Leadership Institute (ILI), a certificate training program for older adults seeking new learning and volunteer opportunities in the community.

At its core, ILI is an eight-week program for adults over 55 hosted by Kaplan and graduate students from the Penn State Intergenerational Program. Since its inception, the ILI has developed into a self-described think tank. They hold monthly meetings where ILI participants, Penn State graduate and undergraduate students, and community members cultivate ideas and projects, coordinate with local organizations, and develop resources for others interested in the discipline.

For Kaplan, intergenerational outreach is a way to bring together individuals, families, communities, and cultures, and care for the needs and vulnerabilities of each group. He sees great value for students in bridging the gap between academic study in intergenerational programming and a passion for service and advocacy.

Related: FaceAge Project

In 2018, Andy Belser, director of Penn State’s Arts & Design Research Incubator, talked about FaceAge, a video installation that is spurring conversation about perceptions on aging and how differences across generations can bring us to a shared understanding of humanity. Since its launch in 2016, FaceAge has evolved to a multidisciplinary engaged learning environment that could change the way we work, communicate, and interact across the generational divide.

“For older adults, they see in Kenna the same sense of passion to leave a legacy,” said Kaplan, who is also working to develop a statewide conference to make intergenerational resources and networks available on a larger scale. “Kenna and young people like her, who are called to work across generations, are rare, but it is exciting to see her passion and her connection with older adults. That is something to treasure.”

According to Embree, “We want to see intergenerational programs continue and thrive. And I would love for my programs to continue once I graduate. In everything I do I want to give people the opportunity to change and experience something that gives them a new perspective on life.”

Establish an Intergenerational Leadership Institute (ILI) Chapter in Your Locality

If interested in starting a new ILI chapter, the first step is to contact the ILI Program Coordinator to discuss the feasibility and opportunities for establishing an ILI chapter in your area.

Learn more