YMCA teens start nursing home podcast series

Young Lunenburg County YMCA podcasters are taking their microphones into the hallways of two Bridgewater nursing homes to spark conversations about residents’ lived experiences.

The YMCA’s youth leaders program secured a $1,600 wellness fund grant from the Lunenburg County Community Health Board for “Intergenerational Conversations and Connections with Seniors Within a Nursing Home,” the second season of its “Through the Generations” podcast.

Community health board wellness funds support non-profit groups working to improve health in their communities. Among other things, grants go toward programs that promote food security, housing, transportation and social participation. The goal is to reduce risks of poor health outcomes in Nova Scotia communities.

Starting last month, about 10 participants (aged 13-18) are spending Wednesday nights at Hillside Pines Home for Special Care and Shannex long-term-care facilities, recording free-flowing chats with older adults.

“Youth and seniors are often seen as very different but our kids spotted similarities,” said Kim Whitman-Mansfield, youth director and project manager for the YMCA’s integrated youth services. “Both groups kind of feel society puts limits on them and this project lets them push past those labels together.”

Two years ago, a pilot funded through earlier wellness fund support led to six podcast episodes featuring active seniors who could visit the YMCA’s Bridgewater youth centre digs. When those same older adults later turned up for holiday parties to socialize, YMCA officials and young people knew they struck a chord and wanted to capitalize on the new relationships.

“The youth wanted to bring the equipment to the residents instead of asking the residents to come to them.” Whitman-Mansfield recalled.

The grant covers transportation, snacks that meet nursing-home dietary rules and a small honorarium for a local audio engineer who polishes final edits and handles uploads. The YMCA already owns portable recorders, microphones and editing software from earlier funding.

Program leaders expect to complete meet-and-greets and primary recordings this month. Each visit will double as a podcast workshop: youth teach residents how to handle a microphone, and seniors teach youth how to listen actively, while both sides decide which stories make the cut. From there, interviews will be sliced into 20- 30-minute episodes under the “Through the Generations – Season 3” banner.

“We give the young people prompts but the best moments happen when the script disappears,” Whitman-Mansfield said. “A teen will ask a senior what Bridgewater was like in the 1940s and suddenly you’ve got a war-era story that none of us saw coming.”

The weekly visits help young people hone technical skills and both sides foster meaningful social interactions.

“It matters because community isn’t real until every age group feels connected,” Whitman-Mansfield said.

The YMCA plans to release at least six episodes this spring on major podcast platforms and the organization’s website. If listener numbers mirror last season’s, Whitman-Mansfield hopes to shop the model to other rural YMCAs and health boards.

“Give young people a little seed money and a big idea and they’ll grow something nobody expects. And the seniors are cheering them on.” 

Photo of Lunenburg County YMCA youth pictured during one of their earlier podcast sessions.