Connecting Students with Seniors

In Niagara News, by Admin, on February 28th, 2022

American cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead noted that “Connections between generations are essential for the mental health and stability of a nation.”

Dayna Starks, a senior with a double major in psychology and gerontology, has launched a project intended to bring Niagara University students and older adults living in long-term care or assisted living facilities in her hometown of Rochester, N.Y., together through letters.

“This program has turned out to be something the participants look forward to each month,” she said. “I have watched before my eyes how these friendships between older and young adults, which isn’t always so common, blossomed. Watching both parties become a support system for each other—encouraging, relating to, and empathizing—goes to show that friendships can be fostered between two people at all ages!”