ymyakisheva (USA)
Cross-Generational Care
I currently live next to a care home for the elderly and the residents don't sound very happy there. One notable exception is when they are around young children. My idea is simple: combine elderly care centers with children's day care centers. Young children haven't yet learned from society that people have to behave in certain ways so 'wacky old people' behaviors don't bother them as much, and maybe they'll grow up to be better people for the immersion.



This is simply a replacement of traditional multi-generational family arrangements, where retired, older generations maintained their value to the family as caregivers while able-bodied folks toiled in the field. Nowadays, we've deemed that being old implies that you have to retire and interact only with your age group while living in care centers. Generally, it seems to me that people don't spend enough time outside their age group anymore; and small children don't have much choice about who they spend time with.



Some of the benefits include: Cross-generational information exchange, fewer staff per person, and greater human contact across generations.



Reward: I hope that when I am too old to care for myself, that I am not isolated from future generations and forced to end my influence in society.

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