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Cross-generational  sharing has a number of benefits for older people. It is a principle focused on well-being as we age according to studies done by the Harvard Study of Adult Development.  In his book, Aging Well, Harvard psychiatrist George Vaillant highlights the importance of bonds with partners, peers, and especially ties that span generations. Older adults who invested in generativity - caring for and developing the next generation - were three times as likely to be happy as those who did not.

Plus a study by Hopkins professor Michelle Carlson found that, after six months of tutoring students with Experience Corps, older adults had “improved brain and cognitive function.”

If working across generations can improve your brain and cognitive function shouldn’t we be doing it all the time?

Creating community for all ages

Deborah Gale embarked upon her latest quest for purpose about 10 years ago. She went back to school and did a second masters in Public Policy and Ageing. Now, she is a gerontologist researcher for two social enterprises: The Age Of No Retirement and Encore Fellows UK. This followed raising five daughters, born within 5.5 years of each other (including two sets of twins and moving back and forth across the Atlantic five times). That was after getting an MBA and working in Silicon Valley where she was Apple Computer's international treasury manager. So, Deb's intentional ageing strategy is to mute the negatives about ageing, while nurturing every opportunity to support intergenerational relationships, across the entire life course.

Tuesday, June 15th Deb will share the importance of finding purpose at every age and why that means we need inclusive design and intergenerational design principles. Through this fun session you will have the opportunity to ask questions and learn what is possible when it comes to designing an intergenerational community.