Students pose for a selfie with a visiting senior at a Healthy Aging Cafe event Feb. 2.
It’s not every day that college students take selfies with seniors.
That’s exactly what happened however, when about 30 first term International Gerontology students met with six visiting seniors as part of a Healthy Aging Café. The event, held on Feb. 2 at the Welland Campus, aimed at introducing students to healthy seniors from the Niagara community so they may learn about their experiences of aging in Canada.
The event was part of the students’ classes in Community Service, and Healthy Aging in the Community.
Practical Nursing professor Courtney Evers, who’s a registered nurse and coordinator of the College’s International Graduate Certificate Programs, said it was a wonderful event and the students were highly engaged. She noted that the students commented that their perceptions of aging had changed as a result of talking to such active and independent seniors
“The students were incredibly positive about the experience. They shared that it changed their perspective of what it means to be a healthy older adult – for example, they were amazed at how active, independent and involved the seniors were in their communities.”
The seniors were invited by PRAC coordinator Patricia MacMillan to volunteer in the event. Evers noted that the participating seniors also valued the opportunity to take part.
“The visitors commented on learning about other cultures and enjoyed the experience,” she said.
