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>> Yeah. The pavilion, I
can see it.

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>> Reporting from Appleton.
I'm Zac Schultz for here

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and.
>> Now in the ongoing

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struggle for more care
programs for older adults

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as well as young children,
some communities in

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Wisconsin are turning to an
approach that combines the

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two different age groups
into the same programs. As

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Steven Potter reports, the
result has benefits for

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both old and young, and the
idea is gaining traction.

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>> Hi, how are you today,
Owen? Remember me? Yes you

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are.
>> Like elsewhere in the

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country, Wisconsin is
facing a crisis of care on

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two fronts. First, the need
for child care continues to

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outpace availability.
Providers say families of

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30,000 children across the
state can't find childcare.

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This problem is
particularly bad outside of

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larger cities, around 70%
of rural Wisconsin is

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classified as a child care
desert.

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>> Textbook of a broken
market. It's just not

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working.
>> There's also a

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significant need for more
care and more social

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connection for older adults.
>> Social isolation can

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increase someone's risk for
dementia, for heart disease,

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diabetes, depression.
>> Already under strain,

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the elder care industry in
Wisconsin is bracing for

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increased demand as the
number of residents 75

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years old or older is
expected to grow by more

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than 40% by the end of the
decade.

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>> You need some help?
>> Yeah.

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>> Given that both the
child care and elder care

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industries in Wisconsin are
facing similar struggles,

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largely based on employee
shortages, several

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communities are bridging
those gaps with something

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called intergenerational
care.

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>> Intergenerational care.
generations coming together

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under one roof. You know,
sometimes it might be in a

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more health care based
setting where there's a

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nursing home and there's
younger generations, like a

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preschool in the same
facility, or it can kind of

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be a little bit less formal
and be in community centers.

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>> Or Suzanne Morley of the
Wisconsin Institute for

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Healthy Aging says
intergenerational care

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programs and facilities are
increasing around the state.

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>> In the past five six
years, maybe even more and

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longer. There's been a lot
of interest in

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intergenerational
programing. There's a lot

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of research out there
that's been coming out

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about the benefits of
intergenerational

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programing and the benefits
not only for older adults,

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but also for younger
generations.

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>> Intergenerational care
activities vary from place

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to place. One program may
have older adults visiting

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young children for reading
time, and another program

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may have high school
students helping seniors

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with technology. All of
these programs bring these

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groups together for social
connection, play, and

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learning.
>> I think there's a lot of

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momentum and excitement
around intergenerational

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programs.
>> Paula Drew of the

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Wisconsin Early Childhood
Association has also

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noticed an uptick in
interest in

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intergenerational care, and
for good reason.

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>> Yeah.
>> I think both our

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youngest and our oldest
tend to sort of live in the

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moment more than us, sort
of in the middle. Our

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seniors have a lot to give
in terms of their skills,

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and they can put those
skills to to use with young

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children who really are
starving for that one on

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one attention. And that
does so much for their

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brain development.
>> And the older set also

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sees a boost.
>> For older adults.

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There's lots of health
benefits. There's research

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that shows that can improve
cognition. So helping with

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things like staving off
dementia and cognitive

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impairment, it can also
increase their

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self-confidence and their
self-efficacy if they're

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interacting with younger
generations, it can improve

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health outcomes. It can
actually lower blood

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pressure.
>> There are several

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programs across Wisconsin
already, and new ones are

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on the way.
>> I think this effort is

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really just an extension of
what we already know works,

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and we already know has all
these benefits.

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>> In Walworth County.
Maddie Sweetman is with the

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Groundswell Collective, a
grassroots organization

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pushing for combined
daycare and older adult

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facility in an empty wing
of a county run nursing

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home.
>> We all sort of know what

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it feels like to have that
isolation and be sort of

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stuck where we are, and I
think rural communities can

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suffer extra from that. And
so intergenerational care

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like this would bridge some
of those gaps.

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>> The small rural
community of Plymouth in

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Sheboygan County has seen
these benefits for more

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than a decade.
>> It's really about

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bringing people together
and creating connections

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between people.
>> Meghann Weeden runs

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generations, a nonprofit
community center. They're

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geared towards seniors that
partners with a daycare

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center on site.
>> Creating a community

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inside the community where
people can get support and

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feel valued and seen and
heard. It gives people a

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reason to get out of bed in
the morning.

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>> And then you are going
to make a Stein.

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>> Doreen Salkowski is a
retired teacher who now

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volunteers at Generations
Community Center.

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>> I love it, I'm. I feel
like I'm back in the

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classroom again. Everybody
benefits. The community

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benefits. They're able to
see the young people as

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they're growing,
interacting more with the

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older people, respecting
them more.

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>> Isolation and loneliness
is a nationwide, worldwide

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issue. So by creating more
intergenerational locations,

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we're breaking down those
barriers and just helping

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everybody find those
connections.