Implementing Montessori Methods for Dementia™ in Ontario long-term care homes: Recreation staff and multidisciplinary consultants' perceptions of policy and practice issues.

Montessori-based activities use a person-centred approach to benefit persons living with dementia by increasing their participation in, and enjoyment of, daily life. This study investigated recreation staff and multidisciplinary consultants' perceptions of factors that affected implementing Montessori Methods for Dementia™ in long-term care homes in Ontario, Canada. Qualitative data were obtained during semi-structured telephone interviews with 17 participants who worked in these homes. A political economy of aging perspective guided thematic data analysis. Barriers such as insufficient funding and negative attitudes towards activities reinforced a task-oriented biomedical model of care. Various forms of support and understanding helped put Montessori Methods for Dementia™ into practice as a person-centred care program, thus reportedly improving the quality of life of residents living with dementia, staff and family members. These results demonstrate that when Montessori Methods for Dementia™ approaches are learned and understood by staff they can be used as practical interventions for long-term care residents living with dementia.

Innovative practice: Conversational use of English in bilingual adults with dementia.

Regression to mother tongue is common in those with dementia. In two long-term care facilities, we explored the use of bilinguals' two languages for five older adults with mild-moderate dementia who have begun to regress to Greek. We also examined the role of Montessori DementiAbility Methods: The Montessori Way-based English language activities in fostering conversational use of English. Over 10 sessions, participants' vocabulary or grammatical structure in English did not improve. However, four of the five participants were able to maintain a conversation in English for longer periods of time. This study contributes to strategies for optimizing meaningful conversation for bilingual long-term care residents with dementia. Moreover, the data suggest a change in the policy and practice for dementia care so that there are more opportunities for residents to speak English in non-English mother-tongue facilities. Greater attention to the specific language needs of bilinguals in English-dominant settings would also be advisable.

Join the Revolution: How Montessori for Aging and Dementia can Change Long-Term Care Culture.

Efforts to improve the quality of life of persons with dementia in long-term care through the implementation of various approaches to person-centered care have been underway for the past two decades. Studies have yielded conflicting reports evaluating the evidence for these approaches. The purpose of this article is to outline the findings of several systematic reviews of this literature, highlighting the areas of improvement needs, and to describe a new person-centered care model, DementiAbility Methods: The Montessori Way. This model focuses on the abilities, needs, interests, and strengths of the person and creating worthwhile and meaningful roles, routines, and activities for the person within a supportive physical environment. This is accomplished through gaining the commitment of the facility's leaders, training staff, and monitoring program implementation. The potential for a culture change in long-term care environments is dependent on the development and rigorous evaluation of person-centered care approaches.

When dementia is in the house: needs assessment survey for young caregivers.

OBJECTIVE: To learn more about the needs and experiences of young carers for patients of frontotemporal dementia (FTD) in order to create a relevant support website for young caregivers to dementia patients. METHODS: Two focus groups were held with a total of fourteen young carers aged 11-18. The data corpus was collected through a semi-structured interview facilitated by a medical journalist who had prior experience as a caregiver to a patient with FTD. The transcripts were narrowed to a dataset for descriptive analysis using a coding scheme to reveal the main themes of their responses. RESULTS: Seven overlapping theme areas were: emotional impact of living with a parent with FTD, caregiving, coping, symptoms, diagnosis, relationships, and support. Based on the participants' responses, a website was launched providing supportive information and counsel for young carers. CONCLUSION: Young carers saw the experience of caring for a parent with early-onset dementia as positive overall, but identified opportunities for professionals to assist them in overcoming stigma and the challenge of balancing childhood and adolescent development within this context.