9:00 a.m. DEC 4, 2020 WEBINAR WITH CAMERON CAMP​
The Montessori Approach Adapted to Fragile Elderly People

Fragility is a state of increased vulnerability
resulting from aging,  chronic illness, and/or other health and socio-economic factors. 
With the progressive aging of a whole population there is the increased likelihood of having people who have difficulty in caring for themselves,
​in maintaining their autonomy and independence and carrying out daily activities.

​Dr. Cameron Camp, director of the Center for Applied Research in Dementia in the United States and founder of "Montessori Based Dementia Programming", will offer a Webinar Conference on December 4th, 2020 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. (East Coast time zone), an English language webinar with Italian translation.
Maria Montessori's ideas were adapted by Dr. Cameron Camp in the United States, the pioneer of this work. He was the first to apply Montessori's principles to elderly people, enriching it over the past twenty five years with the latest neuroscientific discoveries.

​Attendance is limited, so please register early to secure your place! 
​Cost: 

• 20 euros for an individual
• 50 euros for a group of five or more people (one link provided) for example who are working in a rest home

Please note: one link is provided for both the individual and group registration and is for use by the registered person or group only

The Webinar will be available on Zoom 
​for Windows e Apple

​This English language webinar will be translated to Italian and is appropriate for both English speaking and Italian speaking participants.

In the first hour Dr. Camp will discuss:

• Current models of care and the need for a cultural shift;
• How the Montessori-based approach makes person-centered care feasible and sustainable;
• Dementia as a disability and not as a disease;
• How to enable people with dementia to engage in personally meaningful activity throughout the day;
• Why use a Montessori approach to engage people with dementia in meaningful activity using existing skills and capacities;
• Methods for creating social and physical environments to support independence and meaningful engagement.

​
In the second hour of the Webinar Dr. Camp will review: 

• What research has evaluated the impact of the Montessori approach, from a scientific basis to an impact assessment;
• The conditions for success of this approach for the elderly: 

              - Respecting the rhythm of the individual
              - Promoting equality in relationships with others
              - Recognizing retained skills and capacities.

In the third hour will be time for discussion and questions

“People with dementia are stigmatized, isolated, pushed aside and separated from society. We need to consider people with Alzheimer's disease, or any other form of dementia, as we do people with disabilities. People with mobility difficulties are provided with a ramp to gain access to their environment. We need to build the "cognitive ramps" to give people with dementia the same consideration. Using a Montessori approach we can understand how this is done.”   
Cameron Camp

“There is an organization called Dementia Alliance International. People with dementia from all over the world are fighting against negative stereotypes and saying, ‘Yes, we have dementia, but we are also very human, we are people who have the same needs as any other human being. We want to contribute, we want to live in the best possible way and we would appreciate your assistance instead of your resistance. We want to be included in decisions that affect us. We want to be treated with equality, dignity and respect.’
And so we can encourage a person who has this diagnosis and their family to connect with that type of organization. 
It is about using this diagnosis as an opportunity to help others, and to push back against the stereotypes, to push back against people who would take away human rights from an individual just because of a diagnosis.”   Dr. Cameron Camp

In people with Alzheimer's and dementia, we can observe that:

• Even if the rational brain is compromised, the emotional brain still works;
• Though declarative memory is corrupt, procedural memory is functional.
• People's environment can be redesigned in order to support their activity and their autonomy. Thus, relying on preserved capacity, and looking beyond the deficits, people with cognitive disabilities can maintain the gestures of everyday life.

And our outlook on this disability changes.
Documented effects and consequences of the Montessori approach when applied to fragility:

• Reactivation of the ability to maintain social relations;
• Reactivation the desire to belong to a community;
• Reactivation to participate in the activities of daily life;
• Revaluation of families and an augmentation of their tranquility
• Re-appropriation and humanization of the environment;
• Radical change of perspective on understanding the disease and the person.