We’re just friends who care about each other and grow and flourish in each other’s company

Kate -“Tell us a little bit about yourself and your background. What did you do/study before your current position?”

Laura -“I’m a gerontologist who started my career in media, working on the editorial teams of national magazines here in the States. After work, I visited a man named Arthur, who was in his late 80s. Technically, I was volunteering, but we became fast friends and I started to write about our adventures together. My blog was picked up by AARP, and I began writing a monthly column about intergenerational solidarity. I wanted to learn more about ageing, so I decided to go back to university for my Master’s in Population and Social Gerontology. When I started reading about the age-friendly movement—communities consciously deciding that spaces (sidewalks, parks) and opportunities (to connect, to learn new skills) must be open to all ages—it struck a chord with me. I knew I needed to be a part of it.”

Kate -“What attracted you to working in this area?”

Laura – “I had a lot of older neighbours growing up, and my parents made it a point to get to know them—to check in on them, yes, but more so to enjoy their company. I’m realizing more and more how much influence that had on me. Also, thanks to my parents, I was very close with my grandparents. In my 20s, my maternal grandfather, who we called Pop Pop, and I talked on the phone every day. I took the train from New York City to his small town in western Pennsylvania (about 7 hours!) as often as I could. I was on my own for the first time, and in a lot of ways, Pop Pop was, too. His wife, my grandmother, was in the late stages of Alzheimer’s disease. Pop Pop and I kept each other company and talked about everything. This is around the time when I decided to volunteer with DOROT, the organization that connected me with Arthur.”

Kate – “Can you sum up what your organisation does and the key goals?”

Laura -“Age-Friendly Greater Pittsburgh brings people of all ages together to rethink how our neighbourhoods are built and to take action to make them more inclusive and respectful of every generation. Our Action Plan—which was accepted by the World Health Organization and AARP, the organizations that oversee the international and national Network of Age-Friendly Communities—has three focus areas: Access, Connection and Innovation. “Access” addresses the built environment (housing, transportation, public spaces); “Connection” focuses on the social environment (relationships, opportunities); and “Innovation” is about developing technology and ideas that make life more user-friendly for all ages.”

Kate – “In Europe and America we have seen the growth of intergenerational projects, can you tell us why this is?”

Laura -“It might be because our populations are ageing rapidly. More people are living longer than ever before. But I like to think it’s because people are recognizing the value in intergenerational projects. A growing body of literature underscores the vital role of the social determinants of health,

which includes support networks. We can all benefit from widening and deepening our social circles. When we stop and think about it, much of life is siloed by age. Our friends, co-workers and confidants are typically our same age. In America, at family gatherings, there’s often a “kids table” and an “adults table,” and I think this kind of separation becomes our approach to everyday life. But why? We can learn so much from one another by sharing our lived experience and unique expertise. I wonder if a rise in intergenerational projects also could be due to a rise in social media and the digital age. In-person, one-on-one interaction, perhaps, is becoming rarer, and we need programs (official “programs”!) to help us put our phones down and meet our neighbours.”

Kate -“What has been your highlight in your work so far? Any other key projects you want to mention?”

Laura – “I’d have to say my highlight was writing the Age-Friendly Greater Pittsburgh Action Plan and then launching it publicly at our City-County Building alongside elected officials and other leaders. Writing the 30-steps plan was a labour of love and getting it to that moment was a true collaboration between dozens of local organizations in the field of ageing and outside of it. (I always like to point out that everyone works in ageing, though, since we’re all growing older from the moment we’re born.) One of my absolute favourite projects we do with Age-Friendly Greater Pittsburgh is called The Crossings. They’re pop-up street performances designed to raise visibility and ignite change in favour of crosswalk safety. In partnership with a group called Lively Pittsburgh, we bring neighbours of all ages together to cross their most dangerous intersections—and make a joyful scene! We blast James Brown. We wear silly hats. And we film every single one, capturing stories from residents that we can then share with our elected officials to make change happen. A project in Milwaukee, led by creative ageing powerhouse Dr Anne Basting from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, initially inspired us, but now, we’ve held three performances across Pittsburgh, and we have three more scheduled for this year.”

Kate -“How important is connecting generations together to your work and do you think this is important to our society?”

Laura – “Connecting generations is essential to building an age-friendly community. Sometimes, I think of “intergenerational” as “age-friendly,” and vice versa. The age-friendly movement is all about reconsidering our environment—the physical and the social environment—and understanding that it must accommodate and welcome people of all ages. A sidewalk shouldn’t only work for my 24-year-old friend who can run a marathon. It should work for my four-year-old niece, my 84-year-old neighbour and me, a 34-year-old non-marathon runner. We all deserve to cross the street! Without first-hand experience with people of different ages, though, the importance of all of this gets lost. If you can cross the street (and everyone you know can cross the street, too), why should you care? So, connecting generations is important to build relationships that improve our health and wellbeing, but it’s also important to build empathy so that people who are designing sidewalks (or shoes, or restaurant menus, or programs at community centres) understand their users and build better products from the start.”

Kate -“There are many studies that show the positive impact of volunteering in your community and of having friends from different generations. Is there any particular example of this you would like to share? This can be of yourself or someone you know.”

Laura -“Volunteering with my older friend Arthur is what led me to this work, but I already mentioned that! I continue to volunteer, even now that I work in the field. I was paired through United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania’s Open Your Heart to a Senior with my friend Ann, who is 92. She’s a first-generation American (her parents were from Italy) and she loves to cook, which is a real bonus for me—and for my husband! Just today, I showed Ann how to FaceTime. She met my sister and my niece in Florida, and then I met her nephew and his family in Maryland. We had the best time! The idea of reciprocity always comes up when we, as gerontologists, talk about intergenerational friendship—that both people are getting something from the relationship. That’s

absolutely been my personal experience, with Arthur and now with Ann. Calling one person the “volunteer” doesn’t quite fit the equation. Either Arthur, Ann and I are all volunteering, or none of us are. We’re just friends who care about each other and grow and flourish in each other’s company.”

Kate -“One of our aims is to support grassroots projects to connect communities together. What advice would you give to someone who is looking to bring a community together through an intergenerational project?”

Laura -“First, ask the community what they want. You don’t know until you ask. You can think a project is a great idea, but unless the local community thinks it is, too, it won’t succeed. We spent two years talking to residents in our region before we established our Action Plan, and part of our plan is to continue to listen and pivot based on what we hear and learn along the way.”

Kate -“Which people, funders or resources have helped you start your work at your organisation?”

Laura -“Southwestern Pennsylvania Partnership for Aging (SWPPA) had the foresight to bring the age-friendly movement to Pittsburgh and Allegheny County. SWPPA is a volunteer-led organization of civic leaders, business owners, medical professionals and scholars who represent over one million older adults across 10 counties in our region. The funding for Age-Friendly Greater Pittsburgh is thanks to generous support by the Mary Hillman Jennings Foundation. The project team implementing the Action Plan is housed at Change Agency, which is a social enterprise advancing civic initiatives in our region.”

Kate -“What are your tips for getting volunteers involved in a local project?”

Laura -“Rallying volunteers is always a challenge, but again, if it’s something people are excited about and invested in, they’ll show up. One project I’m advising connects young students (ages 8-14) with older adults in their neighbourhood through seasonal activities. Instead of deciding what those seasonal activities would be, we let the students decide, so now they have ownership over its success. We were pleased to have 34 students participate in their first project—kids that had never before volunteered with older adults. I don’t think we would have had that kind of turnout if we had made all the decisions ourselves. Listening and being open to what you hear and what route you take is key.”

Kate -“We encourage sharing of ideas with other business, charities and community projects. Are there any projects local to you that may be of interest to us and our readers? Any particular American ones?”

Laura -“There is so much great work happening here! One project that comes to mind is called the Virtual Senior Academy, which was started by Jewish Healthcare Foundation, one of our Age-Friendly Greater Pittsburgh partners. It’s a Google Hangout-style learning platform that offers amazing (and no-cost!) online classes from local organizations, like the Andy Warhol Museum and Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. All the classes are in real-time, so people can meet one another. The project is geared towards older adults, but people of all ages teach classes and are encouraged to join. I sat in on a class last week with my friend Rose, and we met people from across town—right from the comfort of her kitchen. It’s an example of how technology can enable social connection, rather than hinder it. That’s the kind of future we want.”

To find out more about Laura Poskin, MPSG contact her through linkedin or by e-mail

Photo of Laura taken by Larry Rippel, all rights reserved.

This article is the last article of our winter campaign, Intergenerational Inspiration from abroad. If you have a question, let us know by contacting Kate or through our tag #gwtinspiration