‘A sense of comfort and peace’: How some suburban care facilities are using doll therapy for dementia and Alzheimer’s patients

About a month after her mother moved into an Elmhurst memory care facility, Gail Bekin bought her a doll, hoping it would relieve some agitation.

“She never put it down,” Bekin said.

Bekin recognized what health care professionals like Dr. Christopher D'Agostino have long known: that art, music, pet and doll therapy can benefit people with dementia and Alzheimer’s.

As it progresses, dementia takes away who a patient is but leaves behind elements of who the person was, said D'Agostino, a geriatric psychiatrist with Ascension Alexian Brothers Behavioral Health Hospital in Hoffman Estates.

“A lot of things that mattered to them still matter to them on some level,” he said.

For many, that includes caring for a child. Replicating that experience with a doll can help calm a patient, particularly when confusion, anxiety or restlessness escalate.

Bekin and her family experienced that firsthand.

Earlier this month, Bekin's mom, Justine, was taken to Endeavor Health Elmhurst Hospital from The Indigo at Elmhurst, the Montessori memory care facility where she resides.

“Because she was not in familiar surroundings, she was agitated,” Bekin said. “She didn't know the doctors. She didn't know the nurses.”

Gail Bekin returned to Indigo and retrieved a doll from community director Jennifer Lazansky.

Bekin says her mother had the doll on her chest every night.

“It calmed her down. It took her anxiety away. It was like she was taking care of somebody again,” Bekin said, whose mother is now in hospice care.

D’Agostino said caring for a doll can decrease anxiety, improve mood and increase social connection for patients.

Besides making people happier and healthier, it “fosters a sense of purpose,” he said. “People should not underestimate how important having a purpose is.”

“I had many a patient who felt a true obligation to take care of that baby,” D'Agostino said. “Ultimately, it was something they were proud of, and that's something we all need.”

At Indigo, employees even use baby laundry detergent for doll clothes and blankets.

“It's familiar,” said Lazansky, providing “a sense of comfort and peace all at once.”

She says most doll therapy participants are women who have had children, but men, as well as women who have not had children, have also taken part.

Like other memory care facilities, Indigo incorporates art, music, pet and intergenerational therapy into caregiving as part of the Montessori approach, which involves “getting to know who they were before the disease progressed and who they are now,” Lazansky said.

Lazansky calls doll therapy “phenomenal.”

“Many patients find it soothing,” said Terrence Dyson, memory care director for Alden Courts at Huntley. “It helps them spark a positive memory … and it helps encourage communication because they want to tell a story” about the “baby” they're holding.

Memory care professionals aren't the only doll therapy advocates.

Last month, hospice nurse Lori Gayhart of Buffalo Grove posted a request on social media asking for baby doll donations for her patients.

“They love, love, love taking care of baby dolls,” wrote Gayhart, who was later surprised by the number of donations.

“From my experience, it has been very positive,” said Gayhart, a nurse for 40 years whose seen patients swaddle, change and burp the dolls.

However, some families disapprove of the practice, she said, because they believe it infantilizes their loved one, diminishing their dignity.

D'Agostino understands family members' concerns about doll therapy.

“People are fearful that they're lying to mom or dad,” he said. But if it helps a person feel better, why not allow that comfort, he asks.

“The children of these folks, the caregivers have to understand we're adjusting to a new reality: an individual who has advanced dementia,” he said, and that means adjusting to that person's needs.

As Dyson notes, “every person with dementia is unique. Not every therapy works the same way for everyone.”

“Our goal isn't to cure dementia,” he said, “it's to provide them (residents) with comfort, dignity and meaningful engagement.”

· The Indigo at Elmhurst and Alden Courts at Huntley accept donations of new or gently used baby dolls, including dolls that represent people of color, doll clothes and blankets. Contact Indigo at (331) 267-6938 or jaybirdseniorliving.com or email Terrence Dyson at htc_alz@alden.com.