Trending: Memory care takes a lesson from school
What do a preschool and a memory care community have in common? The surprising answer: the Montessori method.
The Montessori method is a child-centered educational philosophy that teaches children by having them participate in hands-on purposeful work that interests them. Activities could be anything from washing windows to collecting items from nature to learn about them.
Memory care communities are adopting the Montessori method. Tailored to those with dementia, the approach has been found to help residents do more for themselves and also to become more engaged.
Residents are given purposeful tasks to boost confidence and joy. It could be something as simple as setting the dinner table or helping to plant a garden. A resident at one community, a former secretary, enjoys filing paperwork. The idea is to find a meaningful activity that relates to the individual.
Person-centered care
The growing use of the Montessori method is only one new approach to help those with memory issues. Virtual reality, circadian lighting and multisensory rooms are being used to ease anxiety and improve engagement among residents. Locked units are also less common as care providers find ways to safely give residents access to all parts of the building as well as the outdoors.
Many of the new approaches are grounded in the idea of person-centered care, a long-standing practice of memory programs similar to the child-centered approach of a Montessori education. The goal is to know the person and then build an environment and relationships around that knowledge to increase interaction.
Michael Morgan and his sister Rita Kroenert grew up on a big piece of land on the Northwest Side of Chicago. The family had lots of animals and a large garden. Morgan, a structural iron worker who helped build the Sears Tower (now Willis Tower), suffers from memory loss. He lives at Terra Vista, a memory care community in Oakbrook Terrace where Kroenert is a regular visitor.
Last winter, Terra Vista started on-site nature workshops that Morgan attended. “It’s right up his alley,” says Kroenert. “He’s raised a garden before.”
Butterflies welcome
The Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum is running the workshops. The museum staff is conducting eight interactive sessions with the residents.
The program got started when the staff at Terra Vista wanted to find a way to attract more butterflies to the community’s inner walk, an 18,000-square-foot courtyard where residents can enjoy the outdoors. “We wanted more butterflies,” says Natalie McFarland, executive director at Terra Vista. “We’re always looking for innovative ideas.”
A horticulturist from the museum has also created a landscape plan for the inner walk with native vegetation to attract more butterflies and pollinators. The new plants are going in this spring.
The workshops are designed just for those with memory issues. Each workshop focuses on a different topic from butterfly habitats to plant parts. The sessions include videos, written materials and diagrams. Real butterfly specimens and magnifying glasses help residents fully appreciate the different wing patterns and colors.
Written materials such as summary sheets and conversation starters are available for visiting family members who may find it difficult to connect with a loved one who has memory issues. Reviewing the materials together makes the visit more enjoyable for everyone.
The workshops and other activities have helped Kroenert’s once quiet brother to open up. “He’s
More innovation
Other new memory care approaches can help boost engagement. Grace Point Place, a memory care community in Oak Lawn, recently launched a program called Pathways to Purpose. It was created by the community’s parent company, Anthem Memory Care.
The hour-by-hour program includes activities that empower and engage residents, according to Dashira Contreras, executive director at Grace Point Place. She is a certified dementia practitioner and also a certified Montessori dementia care professional. The Montessori dementia designation is growing in popularity and offered by a number of organizations.
Activities are tailored to the individual. Residents who like to knit or crochet make hats and blankets that are donated to Ronald McDonald House, where families stay while their sick children are in the hospital. Residents of Grace Point Place have also cooked meals for families at Ronald McDonald House.
“Our residents like to stay connected,” says Contreras.
High tech, high touch
Technology plays a role in the latest memory care approaches. For example, circadian light systems mimic outdoor light patterns. Individuals with dementia can be affected by disruptions in natural light patterns, resulting in depression and anxiety. The circadian system controls the indoor light to rise in the morning and set in the evening. Light colors can be adjusted to ease the mood too.
LifeBio Memory is a software application that uses machine learning to provide reminiscence therapy for residents. The app records a person’s story, or the family can record a story to reinforce close, high touch relationships. The life stories also help the staff learn about an individual to create a personalized approach to care.
Residents at Harvester Place take real time trips to Florida. The memory care community in Burr Ridge uses a technology called It’s Never Too Late (iN2L). The system has games, sing-alongs, trivia and tailored, person-centered content such as family photos. The system can be used to help individuals recall familiar events and places, such as finding the house where they grew up on Google maps.
At the end of last year, Harvester Place used the system to play movies about winter in the spirit of the season. But residents wanted to escape the cold. So, the system was reprogrammed to give residents a real time visit to a Florida beach. “We can travel the world,” says Carole Considine, executive director at Harvester Place. “Everyone can take a vacation.”