It was an exciting adventure to the far-off regions of Australia. Not quite, but the campers got close to the habitat of the continent “down under” when they attended a presentation by Kentucky Down Under.
Kentucky Down Under is an Australia-themed animal park in Horse Cave, KY. It boasts of several animal species indigenous to Australia and other parts of the world.
On display for Camp Clinton campers and elders of Clinton County Care & Rehab Center were a white-bellied hedgehog, a wood turtle, a leopard tortoise, a Patagonian cavy, a baby alligator and a woma python. Of course the campers wanted to get a close up look at each animal and for some of the animals get a chance to touch them.
What has been meaningful for Camp Clinton to be a part of Clinton County Care and Rehabilitation is the opportunity these kinds of events provide for elder-child interactions. Facilitating intergenerational relationships is one of the keys to changing the nursing home culture from an isolated institution to resemble that of home and family.