Caring for Self + Caring for Others = Resilient and Sustainable Communities

To have a resilient and sustainable future, we must take care of ourselves, our partners, and our communities. At Champion Intergenerational Center, a university-community collaboration, Ohio State works with Columbus Early Learning Centers and National Church Residences to advance knowledge, health, and wellness across the lifespan and to create a place where all generations are engaged, feel valued, and find purpose. An integral part of our program is the practice of self-care and identifying ways to build a caring community. Ohio State's focus at Champion is to support the education and growth of students, particularly those from the lead colleges of Medicine, Nursing, and Social Work and to facilitate the collaboration between the partners. We believe preparation for any path post-graduation requires not only external practices, such as effective client or patient interviews, active observations, or program design and implementation, but also internal practices of self-care and examining one's own unconscious biases. Success requires the continual integration of these external and internal skills. This presentation will discuss the specific practices we use with students, staff, and participants to support one's growth in the area of caring for ourselves and caring for others to create a resilient and sustainable community. From the beginning of a student's placement, we discuss why self-care and an examination of one's unconscious biases is important internal work and how they are connected. We will discuss how we engage students in these topics and demonstrate the different ways to practice self-care throughout your day with the understanding that self-care is unique to each individual. Finally, we will share feedback from students about our work with self-care. The staff at National Church and teachers at Columbus Early Learning Centers are part of a large and silent community of underpaid professional caregivers who are under incredible daily stress and risk of burnout. As we know, any program we develop is only as successful as the investment of the people who will implement it. We will discuss the ways Ohio State has supported staff and teachers through providing opportunities for self-care and community building. Young children and older adults are two populations within our society that are not highly valued. All the work we do seeks to create opportunities for each person to be engaged, feel valued, and find purpose. We will discuss how we integrate self-care and caring for others into the various programs we run at Champion as a way to support these goals. Finally, we will discuss how all of these programs weave together to create a resilient and sustainable community in the present and how integrating these practices helps provide a resilient and sustainable future for the community and for the individuals within that community.AUTHOR AFFILIATION: Elizabeth Speidel, intergenerational program manager, Ohio State Champion Intergenerational Center, elizabeth.speidel@osumc.edu (Corresponding Author); Cynthia Dougherty, director, Ohio State Office of Geriatrics and Interprofessional Aging StudiesTo have a resilient and sustainable future, we must take care of ourselves, our partners, and our communities. At Champion Intergenerational Center, a university-community collaboration, Ohio State works with Columbus Early Learning Centers and National Church Residences to create a place where all generations are engaged, feel valued, and find purpose. An integral part of our program is the practice of self-care and identifying ways to build community. We believe that preparation for any path requires not only external practices, such as effective client interviews or program design, but also internal practices of self-care and examining our own unconscious bias. Success requires the continual integration of these external and internal skills. Learn about the specific practices we use with students, staff, and participants to support one's growth in the area of caring for ourselves and others to create a resilient and sustainable community