Montessori techniques help residents with dementia
Wednesday September 26, 2007 -- By Deron Hamel
Southampton Care Centre embarked on a pilot project in July aimed at creating programming for residents with dementia. The project uses Montessori techniques — generally used on children with developmental difficulties — to help maintain cognitive skills and reduce wandering.

Alzheimer Society of Grey Bruce education co-ordinator Barbara Fox and Montessori teacher Jacqueline Stark recently attended a program at McMaster University focused on applying Montessori methods to residents in long-term care.

Fox and Stark spent a few times per week for six weeks working with three residents — two women and a man.

The programming has five components: assessment, goal setting, activity-plan development, activity presentation and evaluation.

Montessori techniques use a person’s interest to foster skill development.

Brenda Misch, the Jarlette Health Services’ long-term care home’s activity director, says the male resident who participated in the program was always good with numbers.

“So they set up accounting activities and identification of numbers,” she tells the Morning Report. “He can’t see that well, so they did the numbers in a huge font and it was set up as sort of a dice game, and that was something he’d always played with.”

One of the ladies had run a floral shop, so her activities were centred on identifying different types of flowers and plants.

The other lady had come from a large family where she had to do a lot of baking. Fox and Stark helped her perform simple baking tasks, such as icing cupcakes.

“You’ve got to remember that for somebody with dementia that is a huge deal,” says Misch. “Getting someone to sit still that long to do that sort of activity . . . is a big thing for someone who is a wanderer.”

To illustrate the success of the project, Misch says the wife of the male resident now uses these activities when she visits her husband, who sometimes wanders.

“He would be up wandering all the time and she couldn’t seem to get him interested in doing anything,” says Misch.