Kissing it BetterKiB is working to end the isolation of old age by bringing the generations together. Our imaginative healthcare projects make an immediate and lasting difference to the lives of older people. Our teaching and training programmes make our expertise available to everyone.
“The beauty of the Kissing It Better model is that everyone involved benefits – the patients and their carers, the staff, those giving their time, the provider as a whole and the community.” NHS England report.
Our talented team have experience from across healthcare and education, as well as the media and performance industries.
To connect young people and older people through our intergenerational healthcare projects
To help young and old feel valued and valuable
To offer everyone the KiB experience through our training and teaching programmes
To enhance healthcare through our simple, imaginative ideas
To improve young people’s confidence, communication skills and self esteem
To end the isolation and indignities of old age by helping the generations understand each other
This is a fun, interactive workshop for primary schools across the country. These sessions are designed to help young children understand the challenges of old age; they’ve been shown to help children to engage more effectively with older relatives and neighbours. After our workshop, we help primary schools connect with local care homes.
Research shows that regular visits with older people help children develop new communication skills, encouraging them to speak clearly and make eye contact. These sessions also light up the day for older people and help them to feel valued and cared for. And for both age groups, there’s the simple joy of making new friends and hearing new stories.
We offer a rich range of ways for students to volunteer and enhance the lives of older people, from supervised Zooms into care facilities and the homes of people living alone; to masterclasses showing young people how to support family members and older people in their community.
Since the start of the pandemic, we’ve been running Zoom comedy drama groups for older people. What started as a simple idea to lift lockdown loneliness has turned into an ongoing programme that gives older people the chance to learn new skills and meet new friends … all from the comfort of their own home. You can watch a clip here.
This is a brand new project, allowing older people with mobility and memory challenges to have fun and learn new skills. It’s ‘sitting down’ drama, so completely inclusive: everyone can take part, whatever their physical challenges and we never come off script, so nobody needs to learn words.
When rules allow, we organise visits from local schools to cheer up older patients being cared for in hospitals and care homes: young volunteers use their skills to engage and entertain with music and conversation. We also distribute hand-made cards and gifts from our talented KiB volunteers.
We create vintage-themed events at special times of year. In summertime, KiB volunteers host garden parties, with old fashioned games like cat’s cradle and hula hoop, followed by traditional afternoon tea with jam sandwiches and Victoria sponge.
We run a range of music projects, designed to help older people feel happier, more connected and socially included. The programme delivers live outdoor and indoor music events at community centres, care homes and sheltered accommodation. Our team of young creatives offer classic tunes, from vintage pop to swing and jazz
We offer specially-designed digital music sessions for the growing number of older people who learned to use Zoom during the pandemic. Our Zoom Vintage Pop Choir gives older people the chance to learn new skills in a safe and inclusive environment. Zoom means muted mics for everyone except for the teacher, so you can belt out a tune without fear of going off-key.
We offer a host of ways for companies to get involved with our intergenerational work. For instance, we’ve teamed with Coopers of Stortford to create a programme of staff volunteering and local events.
We’re working with healthcare professionals to promote the importance of good hydration in older people. For instance, KiB volunteers are creating posters, flyers and artwork for patients, as well as small gifts to remind patients to drink.
