A look at the links between generations

On November 1, 2023, several hundred participants gathered at the Théâtre de Beaulieu in Lausanne for a day of sharing and learning to celebrate the 20^th anniversary of the Lc65+ study. The invitation to bring their children and grandchildren was designed to reinforce the event's theme of linking generations.

To open the afternoon, the moderator (Mr. Blaise Willa, editor-in-chief of "Générations" and co-president of the senior platform "Agora Vaud") handed over to Professor Jacques Cornuz (CEO of Unisanté) and Professor Mauricio Avendano (Co-responsible for the Health Economics and Policy sector in the Epidemiology and Health Systems Department at Unisanté), followed by Professor Brigitte Santos-Eggimann (founder of the Lc65+ Cohort) and Dr Yves Henchoz (principal investigator of the Lc65+ Cohort).

A dialogue between generations was then fuelled by new questions on intergenerational relations, whose answers from seniors participating in the Lc65+ Cohort in the year 2023 were compared to the answers given live by the younger generations present in the audience. The results, presented by Dr. Yves Henchoz, were commented on by a panel of experts composed by Professor Mauricio Avendano, Ms. Virginie Guisan (Member of the Youth Advisory Chamber, Vaud), Professor Christophe Büla (Head of the Geriatrics and Geriatric Rehabilitation service at CHUV, retired August 1, 2023), and Mr. Marc Favez (Head of "Habitat et travail social communautaire, Pro Senectute Vaud"). The discussions were accompanied by two short video sequences : one illustrating a participant's experience of intergenerational bonding within his family; the other illustrating a complementary way of forging intergenerational bonds thanks to the "Grands-Parents de Coeur" project.

To present the results and summarize the discussions with the panel of experts, a condensed report has been published in "Raisons de santé : Les Essentiels". This report is available online (DOI : 10.16908/rds-essentiels/54).

The coffee break was followed by a talk by Martina Chyba, well known in French-speaking Switzerland as a journalist, columnist and writer. In a particularly humorous tone, her speech addressed the differences between the generations of today and those of yesteryear. The event ended with a musical and artistic component, provided by the Ministrings, an ensemble made up of children aged 7 to 14 performing completely autonomously, without score or conductor.

The celebration of this colorful anniversary was an opportunity for the entire Lc65+ team to express its gratitude to all participants for their loyalty and commitment, by offering them moments of rich exchange, as well as moments of laughter and emotion. Finally, thanks to the generous support of the Leenaards Foundation, this event stimulated public debate on the challenges of intergenerational relations, combating negative stereotypes linked to ageing and reminding us of the many contributions seniors make to our society.