Montessori is usually used for teaching kids. Turns out it can also help those with dementia.

• Montessori is about guiding others to learn or reclaim their skills.
• While usually applied to children, there is some research being done with dementia patients.

When a successful businessman in Oregon, who asked to remain anonymous for privacy reasons, found he needed to move into a memory-care facility as his dementia progressed, his depression came with him. He didn't expect the Montessori method — something more commonly associated with preschool children and wooden toys — to be the answer to improve his mental health.

Leading dementia researchers have tapped into what many Montessori educators and parents eventually discover: Montessori isn't about perfect wooden materials but a way of respectfully guiding others to learn or reclaim skills.

Montessori methods could improve overall health for those with dementia

At the Center for Applied Research in Dementia, Vincent Antenucci, who co-founded the center with Dr. Cameron Camp, examines how applying Montessori methods in memory-care facilities can improve the overall health of dementia patients.

Maria Montessori developed her philosophy while working with children with developmental delays and disabilities, beginning in 1896. At the time, people had discarded these children and considered them unteachable, a stigma that people with dementia face today. Antenucci and his colleagues, backed by years of research, want to change the approach to memory care — moving away from a model that trades patients' autonomy for assured safety and pointless activity.

In a Montessori classroom, the environment is designed to maximize the success of a child's independent efforts — chairs, toilets, cups, and tables are all child size. Montessori-trained teachers create materials — activities or toys — that provide children with a "control of error" that gives them the feedback needed to self-correct their work without the assistance of an adult. Over the school year, teachers will demonstrate new materials that gradually reduce the control of error and challenge children to build off their previously learned skills.

The researchers at CARD, inspired by the control of error and Montessori principles, created "cognitive ramps" and systems for dementia patients that allow them to use remaining strengths, like the ability to read, to continue to engage in life in a meaningful way.

For instance, during our interview, Antenucci shared how providing visiting family members with easy-to-read name tags that indicate their relationship to the resident can improve a patient's recall of names. Minor adjustments like this can result in higher-quality social visits that enhance patients' overall mental health and confidence.

Using the Montessori principles of respect and observation

Dr. Evan Shelton, a researcher at CARD, shared that the Montessori-based adjustments to memory care also include its principles of respect and observation, by shifting caregivers' perspective that residents are not passive participants but capable contributors to their own care.

Research on the use of Montessori methods in assisted-living facilities shows a dramatic decrease in antidepressant and anxiety drugs, decreased agitation among residents, improved sleep, positive weight gain, and improved employee retention. These findings are promising and not surprising to me, a Montessori-trained teacher.

Antenucci and his colleagues feel, much like Montessori herself, a moral obligation to honor and respect the capabilities of dementia patients. By doing so, patients' quality of life, and the entire community, benefit.

Back in Oregon, caregivers trained in CARD's Montessori approach asked their new, business-savvy resident what he would like to do to contribute to the community. "I would like to be resident ambassador," he said. Working with his care providers, they created the role of resident ambassador, in which he greets visitors and gives tours of the community.

Allowing this patient to choose a contributing role that engaged his strengths provided him with purpose and significantly improved his mental health. "That resident has probably helped 'sell' more placements at the facility than any program director or doctor," Shelton joked.

Jenny Eastman is a Montessori teacher, blogger, Maine enthusiast who shares her thoughts and adventures on Instagram @raising_maine.