Improving the health and wellbeing of older people

The Wisdom Club is a pilot program funded by the Breakthrough Mental Health Research Foundation in which older volunteers help students at Noarlunga Downs Primary School with fundamental learning tasks. While the program is designed to bring older and younger Australians closer together, the researchers are primarily interested in its positive effect on older people.

“It’s not just an exchange of knowledge, but a very important social exchange and communication bridge between generations,” says Flinders University’s Associate Professor Tim Windsor.

“It has been absolutely life-changing for me,” says 66-year-old Kate Hamilton, who volunteered for the duration of the Wisdom Club pilot program. “I really want to invest the energy I have in doing something useful, but at this age you start feeling rather invisible.”

Having worked as a midwife for 33 years and now engaged in part-time roles as a bus driver, hospitality worker and celebrant, Kate says that being able to work with young students gave her a heightened sense of purpose.

The Wisdom Club, designed by Associate Professor Windsor and PhD student Amy Harvey, has been inspired by a US initiative called Experience Corps but adapted to best suit South Australian cultural and primary school environments. Rather than focus on literacy skills, which was the initial focus of the US Experience Corps program, SA teachers instead asked the volunteers to help build numerical skills by playing maths-based board games with the young students.

“We wanted it to be flexible for our volunteers, so the pilot program only required a time commitment of one hour a week for six weeks,” explains Associate Professor Windsor.

“It’s especially important that the project focuses on positive intergenerational social interactions through shared learning opportunities without the need for modern technology and screen time.”

Positive feedback from the school indicates that it wants the program to continue – and the older volunteers agree.

“Having a portal where we can impart a bit of our wisdom and interact socially is so beneficial,” says Kate Hamilton. “Just by being able to reassure children who are struggling with some aspects of their learning, to provide support that will build their confidence in themselves – it feels like a worthwhile achievement.”