Resource Center

Serving Professionals in Aging and Elder Care

Incorporating Montessori Principles into All Areas: Personal Care (Bathing)

While assisting with personal care, care partners can implement the Montessori philosophy by using task breakdown and following these six steps:

  1. Know the person
  2. Prepare the environment
  3. Invite the person
  4. Demonstrate the steps
  5. Step back and observe
  6. Encourage and thank the person

To help care partners understand how this process works, here are some tips that provide examples with each step when helping someone bathe.

Know the person

  • Be familiar with the person’s bathing preferences and habits.

Prepare the environment

  • Place the towel next to the bathtub and turn on the lights in the room. Increase the ambient heat if needed and play music if the person enjoys this while bathing.
  • Remind the person of the next step to do, if needed. Comment on how good it feels to be clean.

Invite

  • Introduce yourself and ask, “How are you today?”
  • Ask the person, “Would you like to take a bath?”

Demonstrate

  • Show the person by demonstrating first; this helps the person to understand what is going to happen next. Show him or her how to start the water and where the soap is located.

Observe

  • Observe and offer help if needed. For example, ask, “Would you like any help washing your hair?”

Encourage

  • Remind the person of the next step to do, if needed. Comment on how good it feels to be clean.

Thank the person

  • Thank the person in order to signal completion of the activity and instill a sense of pride. For example, “Thank you for bathing. Would you like your next bath tomorrow?”
Montessori for Elder and Dementia Care, Second Edition

Read the book!

For more examples of ways to use the Montessori philosophy for personal care and fully integrating Montessori into your care community, get your copy of Montessori for Elder and Dementia Care, Second Edition. You’ll find everything needed to begin and sustain the Montessori philosophy with elders or people living with dementia, including a full step-by-step action plan, forms and assessments, and ready-to-use activities!

This post was excerpted from Montessori for Elder and Dementia Care, Second Edition by Jennifer Brush, M.A., SLP, and Margaret C. Jarrell, M.Ed. Copyright © 2024 by Jennifer A. Brush. All rights reserved.

Add comment

Your comment will be revised by the site if needed.

RELATED POSTS

Montessori and Meaningful Engagement: Reclaiming Previous Roles

An elder or person with dementia still has the same needs as everyone else. The person wants to socialize, express desires, participate in hobbies, interact with family, be included in activities, teach and learn, and be asked for advice. The person has the same desires to contribute to the household…
READ MORE

Intergenerational Programming: Getting Started

Montessori in Elder Care People of older generations may have memories of standing at their grandmother’s side in the kitchen and baking bread or helping their grandfather plant the vegetable garden in the spring. Many of us have wonderful memories of growing up in an extended family. Today, however, young…
READ MORE

5 Inspiring Stories of Meaningful Person-Centered Memory Care

Small Ways Care Partners Have Improved Quality of Life and Made a Difference This post was excerpted from Getting Dementia Care Right: What’s Not Working and How It Can Change by Anne Ellett, M.S.N., NP. Copyright © 2023 by Health Professions Press. I have had so many meaningful experiences over…
READ MORE

The Benefits of Gardens in Dementia Care

Saying “hello” to the outside world, for even a brief moment, is vital. The truth is, trips outside, whether to the garden at the home or to a nearby forest or nature trail, are beneficial for both the residents and the employees. It does us all good to get a…
READ MORE