Old People's Home for Teenagers: Teens and seniors team up to combat loneliness

It may have started out as another reality TV show, but ABC's Old People's Home for Teenagers has led to real friendships being formed.

The show is based on the hugely popular Old People's Home for 4 Year Olds, but this time teens (aged 14-16 years) are being cast into the experiment with seniors (aged 74-93).

They are decades apart in age, but the one thing they all had in common before the show began was intense loneliness.

"I feel lonely all the time," one senior said.

"I feel as though I'm in God's waiting room just waiting to die," another said.

The teens were also heartbreakingly lonely.

"I spend most of the day in my room, I don't really have anyone to hang out with. I don't have many friends," said one before the show.

Another said: "I just really want some friends, regardless of their age".

Miles, a 15-year-old from Sydney, was among the 10 teens to be involved. The keen video gamer, who doesn't have any grandparents close by, struck up a instant connection with 93-year-old retired nurse Aranka.

"I wanted to make some new friends," he told ACM.

Hungarian-born Aranka has no grandchildren and suffers from loneliness, and admits was initially hesitant about taking part in the social experiment.

She has a vastly different background - she was a teenager during World War II and fled her home country during the revolution in Hungary in 1956.

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"I was concerned because I'm a different race, I'm from Europe and they might not accept me because I think differently and my attitude towards life is so different," she said.

But, she admits, the experiment changed everything.

"It was absolutely a very interesting and very rich experience with the teenages," Aranka said. "I enjoyed every minute of it and I wouldn't hesitate to doing it again.

"It changed my life, I'm rejuvenated and I'm happier because I gained some friends."

The show premiers on ABC TV at 8.30pm on Tuesday, August 30, but in reality the experiment is long over and Miles and Aranka have become firm friends, they go to the movies, for walks and share meals together.

"I've got more knowledge of what they [seniors] go through and I learnt a lot about their experiences," Miles said.

For Aranka, who was already busy learning Spanish and line dancing prior to the show, she's excited to have new friendships with some of the teens.

"I gained three of four teenagers as a friend, I think forever until I go," she said.

Miles' father Kelvin has been with his son every step of the way, off camera of course, and is hopeful the concept will be adopted elsewhere.

"We can potentially use something like this as a vehicle to bring about change," Kelvin said.

"We can try and change people's attitudes and change the approach where seniors are not marginalised, and left on their own suffering depression and loneliness."

Miles may think the experiment didn't change him, but Kelvin disagrees.

"There was quite a profound and impactful change," he said.

Teenagers are often regarded as being moody and living in their own world, the show's executive producer Tony De La Pena said.

"Research shows there is a significant number of teenagers who are lonely, particularly after the COVID pandemic," he said.

"When people are lonely, they are often socially isolated, meaning they don't go out, they lose confidence, they're physically inactive, and it becomes a vicious cycle.

"The hope was to break that cycle by getting them to socialise together and bring them out of their shells."