Discover how intergenerational relationships can challenge stigma, build empathy and support people living with dementia.
What can young people teach us about empathy, connection, and community? In this Q&A, Ben Towe shares his experience of leading intergenerational projects between school pupils and care home residents. As Executive Headteacher of two primary schools in East Cornwall, he has witnessed the lasting impact these relationships can have on everyone involved.
Read on to discover how simple acts of connection can challenge assumptions, build understanding, and create hope for the future.
Both schools I work in have been involved in a lot of intergenerational work over the last few years. Initially, some of that was through projects working with Sensory Trust.
We're really fortunate to be involved in these ongoing activities, which we’ve been doing with our older pupils every month. We visit a local care home in Carlington and East Cornwall.
I've also been involved in lots of other activities that involve working with and engaging with adults who live with dementia. I’ve been observing the relationships and the impacts of giving our children the opportunity to work alongside them.
It gives me real hope about how the future looks. I'm passionate about everything that brings us together: community, connection, relationships, and, under that umbrella, empathy. I get a lot out of hearing, meeting, seeing, and listening to other people. I hope that other people feel inspired when they hear about our story and the work we do.
Two of the young people involved in our projects joined us at the Only Connect! symposium. They've moved on to secondary schools, so they’re not in our school anymore, but they still come back. They’re invested in that work, and in the relationships they've built with the care home and its residents.
This initiative has grown and built. The parents are asking me, “Will you be doing this next year? Will the care home project continue?”.
There are a lot of gimmicky, short-term, lottery-funded projects, which are great for the two or three years that they run. But my focus is on how we're developing a younger generation that will give us hope for the future.
I'm talking about their empathy, their compassion, and their sense of community. I'm also talking about their responsibility for other people.
What has always brought me great hope is that there isn't a sense of ‘otherness’ or pity from our children towards care home residents. It has taken on this lovely, beautiful sense of congruence. They exist alongside these people, and they've developed equal, equitable relationships.
Person-centred care is a really interesting aspect, because I see that in schools now. I define person-centred care as an approach to care that is very human and authentic.
Throughout my career, I've tried to allow my young people to engage with other people. I want to empower them and help them understand this incredibly diverse world that they live in.
So, when we talk about values and what the project engenders in us, the root of it is empathy. It’s a sense of what we’d hope others would understand about us, who we are, and where we are at that moment. That could be living with dementia in a care home, or a child in a reception class starting school.
We can very easily see people as ‘other’. You could be an immigrant, or on benefits, or someone living with dementia, or a child with autism. But at the root of it all is a person and a story. For me, that is what has been so special about the work that we do: hearing those stories and connecting with people.
Ben's reflections highlight the power of empathy, relationships, and seeing the person behind the diagnosis. His experiences show how meaningful connections can challenge stigma and strengthen communities.
These values sit at the heart of the University of Hull's online MSc in Dementia. As a student, you'll explore person-centred approaches grounded in compassion, lived experience, and real-world practice.