Jennings at Notre Dame Village Achieves Montessori Inspired Lifestyle Silver Level Certification

Jennings at Notre Dame Village joins an exclusive group of credentialed senior living communities that have implemented a revolutionary Montessori-based approach to memory care. The Jennings team is committed to building a Montessori Inspired Lifestyle® (MIL) for our memory care assisted living, and in March we earned a Silver Level credential in our small houses.

“I’m proud of the dedication from the staff, and having this silver accreditation shows that resident choices are honored,” said Vivian Springer, Executive Director of Jennings at Notre Dame Village. “It’s so rewarding to see residents and staff engage in life enriching activities. It has taken dedication from everyone to get this credential, but it has enhanced resident life and it’s rewarding for staff. Residents are driving much of what we’re doing – from what plants to choose for the garden or striking up conversations with neighbors by reading conversation cards.”

The MIL program was created by the Center for Applied Research in Dementia (CARD) after one of its founders, Dr. Cameron Camp, adapted Dr. Maria Montessori’s principles for older adults with dementia. Guided by CARD, staff learned how to implement the Montessori principles of equality, dignity, and respect into their community. Staff were trained to empower residents with memory impairment to be as independent as possible. This is achieved through tapping into each resident’s remaining strengths, designing environments they can thrive in, and helping them find purposeful activities and meaningful roles within their community. Communities effectively using Montessori principles benefit from healthier and happier residents, fewer drugs, fewer responsive behaviors, more satisfied families, and better staffing and census (Witt-Hoblit, Miller, & Camp, 2016).

Silver Level organizations have resident-led committees, multidisciplinary Learning Circles, effective signage and environmental cues, personalization of resident spaces, and ongoing staff training by credentialed internal trainers, among many other milestones.