Montessori Based Activities for Dementia

Effects of a Culturally Adapted Group Based Montessori Based Activities on Engagement and Affect in Chinese Older People With Dementia

The objectives of this study are to examine the feasibility of a culturally-adapted group-based Montessori Method for Dementia program in Chinese community and examine its effects on engagement and affect in community-dwelling people with dementia.

People who were aged 60 years or over and with mild to moderate dementia were recruited from six community centres and three care homes. Participants were randomly assigned to either the intervention group to attend the Montessori-based activities or the comparison group to attend the conventional group activities for one hour twice per week over eight weeks. All sessions were videotaped to facilitate analysis. Observations of engagement and affect were conducted for each intervention session on the individual participant for a ten-minute period at the beginning, middle, and end of the activity in order to have observations from multiple time points. The Menorah Park Engagement Scale and the Apparent Affect Rating Scale were used to assess the engagement and affect during the activities based on observations.

Inclusion Criteria:

• with a diagnosis of dementia at a stage 3 to 5 on the global deterioration scale (GDS)

Exclusion Criteria:

• were joining any other dementia training activities
• would highly likely present a hazard to others through disruptive behaviors
• proxy consent could not be obtained