Celebrating centenarians on film

A total of seven centenarians feature in the ‘essence of life’ stories project, which was created together with journalism and multimedia students from University of South Australia (UniSA) and funded by SA Health’s Office for the Ageing.

Dr Leanne Glenny from UniSA says, “This has indeed been a landmark project in terms of the relationship with an important industry and community partner.

“Bringing together a multi-disciplinary team of extremely dedicated and professional students has been so rewarding. Guided by Carolyn (executive producer Dr Carolyn Bilsborow ed), the team has produced amazing outcomes,” she says.

“The students have learned so much through this experience and we as a university have benefited from such a positive relationship with the client.”

Lynn Openshaw, Resthaven Manager, Service Development, says ‘The project provided a great opportunity for students to respond to their client, Resthaven, and understand the final product that Resthaven wanted to achieve.

“The end product is exactly what we hoped for, short films on subjects or experiences that were important to the centenarians, showing they are vibrant, vital people, with rich life experiences.”

The short films will be provided to the centenarians and their family as a lasting legacy, and will be used as part of Resthaven’s positive ageing promotional strategy. They are available for viewing on Resthaven's YouTube channel.