Interview with Professor Kuei-Ru Chou, Taipei Medical University
Imagine that one day, you can’t remember your way home, you no longer recognize the faces of your family, and even feeding yourself becomes an insurmountable challenge. Imagine living in such a terrifying and miserable situation.
In Taiwan, 1 in 12 seniors above the age of 65 suffers from dementia. According to the World Alzheimer Report 2019 by Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI), more than 50 million people live with dementia globally, with someone developing dementia every three seconds. Figures are forecasted to increase to 152 million by 2050.
(Photo by Dominik Lange on Unsplash)
In light of the pressing need to address dementia, the Montessori approach brings new hope for the care of the elderly and dementia patients. Through a prepared environment, we can compensate for their cognitive or physical impairment and encourage them to live a happy and fulfilled life by stimulating their remaining faculties, helping them to maintain their independence, and in turn, finding life fulfillment and joy.
Academia and medicine cooperate to explore Montessori applications in dementia care
Images provided by: Kuei-Ru Chou
Through Y2’s introduction and networking, Taipei Medical University Professor Kuei-Ru Chou began their collaboration with AMI, hosting the Montessori for Dementia Care Online Workshop to promote the use of Montessori methods to care for elders and those suffering with dementia. Anne Kelly, the keynote speaker, is a registered nurse from Australia with more than 40 years of experience in nursing and aged care. She has been using the Montessori approach for elders with dementia for over 13 years and is the Head of Montessori for Dementia and Aging at AMI.
The online workshop took place over two days and attracted more than 400 participants globally. Everyone was eager to learn how to apply Montessori education methods to the care of dementia patients. Professor Kuei-Ru Chou of the School of Nursing, Taipei Medical University, shared her thoughts:
“Dementia is a very important subject in geriatric psychiatry. Traditional aged care puts us on the sidelines, always observing but never able to do anything for the patient. The Montessori method supplements what is lacking in traditional methods of professional nursing. It reminds us to see the individual obscured by the symptoms of dementia, find out what they are good at, and enable them to be the best that they can be.”
Seeing the person and not just the disease
photo by Matthias Zomer on Pexels
Dr. Maria Montessori once said, “The more you do for me, the more you take away from me.” This sentiment also applies to the care and support for those living with dementia.
This worldview helps shift the focus of professional nurses and family members from the various symptoms of dementia back to the person. Professor Chou explains,
“We need to focus on the individual’s desires, habits, and needs and how they became the person they are today. How does the individual feel? What are they capable of? What activities make them feel happy and confident? These questions all get to the heart of who an individual is.”
We should view persons with dementia as people who are still capable of learning. This shift in focus means that, in the event when somebody is losing the ability to feed themselves, we don’t immediately jump to the conclusion that they need to be spoon fed. Instead, we should design related activities to maintain their fine motor skills to allow them to be able to continue to feed themselves for as long as possible. Professor Chou uses “eating dumplings” as an example: “Eating dumplings can be divided into many smaller tasks, such as choosing the type of dumplings, meal preparation, setting up utensils, plating the dumplings, and the act of eating. These are all tasks that our elders can participate in and accomplish. These activities not only slow the progression of dementia, but also allow our elders to live with dignity.”
Promoting Montessori to provide more humanistic care and support
The Montessori approach is not just tailored for childhood education, it can support individual needs and lifestyles for people aged 0 to 100! Montessori methods for aging and dementia also empowers elders to feel supported and to live with dignity.
Professor Chou is planning to incorporate Montessori methods into the curriculum of the School of Nursing as well as the design of the dementia ward at Taipei Medical University Hospital. To her, this online workshop marks an important first step for promoting public awareness of Montessori concepts.
“Students can apply these principles in their professional fields. In the future, when the number of professionals immersed in the Montessori method reaches critical mass, we can build a dedicated environment, where application of Montessori principles are possible.”
Professor Chou also offers a gentle reminder to keep in mind the cultural differences between the East and the West when applying Montessori principles, “In our culture, the elders expect to be cared for by the younger generation, so we need to consider how best to introduce the Montessori method in aged care and help maintain their independence, while ensuring that they feel sufficiently cared for and respected.”
Text: Shu-Mei Weng
Translator: Jen Hsu / Graduate Institute of Translation and Interpretation, NTNU