Montessori-based programming effective for residents with dementia
Wednesday January 2, 2008 -- Deron Hamel
Two Jarlette Health Services-owned long-term care homes have found success using Montessori-based techniques to help create meaningful programs for residents with cognitive impairment.

Staff members at Muskoka Landing in Huntsville and Southampton Care Centre in Bruce County say the techniques — which were initially designed to aid students with developmental difficulties — help maintain cognitive skills, as well as reduce wandering in residents affected by dementia.

In November, Muskoka Landing’s auxiliary group contacted the Alzheimer Society, which donated a sensory cupboard to the home’s dementia unit. Items found in the cupboard include pictures and cut-outs to help with colour and shape discrimination, as well as articles such as different fabrics to help stimulate feeling.

“So far, it has been a big success,” says Pamm Griffin, the home’s activity co-ordinator.

The activity department utilizes books from the Alzheimer Society on how to create Montessori-based programming for residents with cognitive impairment. The books guide activity staff on how to take programs used for residents who are high functioning and customize them for residents with dementia.

Additionally, the books address the issue of what programs should be used on people in various stages of dementia.

Southampton Care Centre launched a pilot project in July to use Montessori methods to help residents with cognitive impairment in the home.

Activity director Brenda Misch explains how the techniques have helped a male resident at the home who always enjoyed working with numbers.

“(Activity staff) set up accounting activities and identification of numbers,” she says. “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 in the program had run floral shop, so her activities are centred on identifying different types of flowers and plants.

Another woman at the home had done a lot of baking when she was younger, so staff engaged her in simple kitchen activities like 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.”