Interview with Kelly Bruno

Kelly Bruno, Vice President of Intergenerational Programming, ONEgeneration

ONEgeneration Daycare provides day care services for both seniors with memory impairment (primarily Alzheimer's) and children, ages 6 weeks to 6 years. Each day, the children come together with their "neighbors" (the seniors) seven times a day for structured activities. 

Each activity follows the ONEgeneration Daycare Curriculum, which includes an intergenerational goal for both generations. Additionally, this curriculum ensures that each activity is developmentally appropriate for both young children and older adults in daycare.

"The losses associated with Alzheimer's disease are so huge," states Kelly Bruno, Vice President of Intergenerational Programming; "many day-to-day tasks get taken away from the person with Alzheimer's," which can result in a feeling of uselessness. Participation in an intergenerational program allows these older adults to feel needed and purposeful, through nurturing the children. At the same time, notes Bruno, children receive encouragement and support, while developing empathy and a healthy sense of aging.

While anecdotal evidence can clearly show the benefits of such a program, Dr. Shannon Jarrott conducted a research project, using a technique called "dementia mapping," to measure the patients' sense of well-being. The research has shown that interaction with the children in a structured, consistent setting gives the patients a heightened sense of well-being. Ms. Bruno was most excited by the research showing that all patients showed such benefits, regardless of the severity of cognitive impairment, and that frequency is related to the amount of benefit.

Bruno notes that, "Alzheimer's adult day care programs were developed primarily to help family caregivers. With the advent of programs like ONEgeneration, adult day care is seen as a way to add quality of life for the person suffering from Alzheimer's." ONEgeneration operates as a not-for-profit, and ONEgeneration Daycare has proven to be a self-sustainable venture. Bruno believes it serves as an innovative "business model" as well, and she states that "such a model is now imperative as employees continue to face the challenge of caring for children and a growing aging population."

The ONEgeneration program is being replicated in California, and other states have also shown interest. In addition to research, Bruno and her colleagues provide staff training and consulting to organizations interested in shared-site intergenerational daycare. For more information about the ONEgeneration program and the research mentioned above, go to www.onegeneration.org or email Ms. Bruno at kbruno@onegeneration.org.