A Caressing Room is where Senior Citizens regularly gather to hold, soothe, rock and interact with infants. A Caressing Room is mutually beneficial to the elderly who by giving love realize they are needed and useful, to infants who are enriched by love and attention and to parents who are given a few hours of freedom.A Caressing Room is directed by a coordinator, preferable a Parent Education Specialist or a person experience with babies and senior citizens. The Project Coordinator is responsible for the establishment and maintenance of the Caressing Room. The coordinator must be present at every session to supervise, assist and to prevent problems. Hopefully, the coordinator will have the assistance of a volunteer during the sessions - perhaps one of the parents. The coordinator's tasks are varied.The Caressing Room may be in a variety of locations: senior citizen centers or residential hotels, shopping centers, child care centers or a private home. It is important that the Caressing Room be conveniently located for parents and seniors - and also be permanent because infants thrive best on stable relations with people and places. The Caressing Room needs little in the way of material things: a few rocking chairs and some infant equipment such as a changing table and maybe some books or drawing materials. The Caressing Room is a serene and soothing place. It must also be safe for babies who are crawling or beginning to walk. Of course, the most important ingredient of a Caressing Room is PEOPLE - the elderly who want to give love and the infants who want to be loved.The Caressing Room may be open to seniors and infants as frequently as possible. Four hours a day, one or two days a week would be a good starting point. Whatever the schedule, the hours should be regular and consistent in order to elicit confidence and trust. Often a bonding relationship develops between a particular "grandparent" and infant - the continuity of such a relationship is of paramount importance.
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