Question: what is the most exciting/interesting thing you have learnt from working with the elderly?

Claire Melia answered on 14 Jun 2018:

ooh that’s a really interesting question! I think when you work with the elderly you learn a lot of compassion and patience. The job is really hard, probably the hardest job i’ve ever had. It’s so physically exhausting, and at time mentally exhausting too, but it’s also really rewarding!

By far my favourite part of this job was listening to the stories of the residents. Some of these people were involved in WW2 and they all had fantastic stories to tell. Giving them the opportunity to just talk and spend time with someone who is interested in their story is really underestimated, it’s so important for these residents. I think it really highlighted to me how much we forget about just taking time to sit and talk with people, it’s so important!

I definitely recommend having a sit down and just chattign with your grandparents and asking about their life sometime. Find out what they did for a job, what they were like in school, how they met, any wild stories from their teenage years. The elderly often have much cooler stories than we do!