The Straits Times recently featured Madam Katherine Chua, along with her ‘buddy’ Year 2 student, Keith Zheng, who participated in an Intergenerational Learning Programme [ILP] at Temasek Polytechnic. The programme included a series of cognitive exercises taught to the senior participants by their junior buddies – all students from the Diploma in Gerontological Management Studies [GEM]. 

During the Brain Gym session, the 59-year old and the other participants, learnt how to use a brain-training mobile app called Mindworks. The app, launched last year, was jointly developed by Centre for Applied Gerontology, the School of Informatics & IT, and Japan’s Tohoku University. After the ILP session, Madam Chua and her fellow participants can continue to play the games at home. Performing these cognitive activities everyday for 15 minutes will help to strengthen her general cognitive abilities such as memory, recall and processing speed. The students learn about intergenerational practice and working with older adults during the subject, Programme Planning. 

The Diploma in Gerontological Management Studies, together with the Council for Third Age, has been organising ILPs for older adults since 2010. The sessions encourage bonding between younger and older people through the exchange of knowledge in a group-learning environment, to promote active living by enhancing mental and social well-being. They not only do activities for cognitive stimulation, but the programme also incorporates physical exercise, another means of promoting brain function. For more information on the Diploma in Gerontological Management Studies see 
Diploma in Social Sciences in Gerontology.