Follow the Elder: Elders at St. André Head to the Beach

By Mandy Cheskis, MS, CCC/SLP

“Follow the child” is one of the key principles of Montessori education. It encourages parents to observe and respect their children's own pace and interests. The full quotation of Maria Montessori can help us understand what she meant: “Follow the child but follow them as their leader.” In our work in creating Montessori communities where elders can continue to exercise control and choice and live with purpose and meaning, we teach “follow the elder.”

I enjoy guiding communities through change as they adopt a Montessori philosophy of living. I am proud to highlight a special community in Biddeford, Maine, St. André, that has gone the extra mile to follow the elder. I think Dr. Maria Montessori would approve of this approach, and I am honored to apply her teaching to make changes for the lives of elders living with dementia.

In 2023, St. André Health Care began implementing the Montessori philosophy of living with our aging population. With Montessori, we started to know our elders in a deeper way.  We recognized that a portion of many of our elders’ lives have been spent along the Maine coast beaches.  Many elders have dreamed of returning to the beach. Living in a community two miles from the beach meant rides along the coast, but never a chance to get a wheelchair-bound person’s feet in the sand and toes in the cold, ocean water and the ocean breeze in their hair.

Knowing the expense of beach wheelchairs, St. André employees decided to raise the funds by holding a Chocolate Fair – Everything Chocolate!  The fair was held the Saturday before Valentine’s Day in February 2024.  Enough money was raised to purchase 2 different-sized beach wheelchairs to accommodate all our residents.

While awaiting the arrival of the chairs, St. André staff began putting forth the leg work on creating policies and procedures to meet all necessary requirements.  The care partners began having conversations with the elders and family members about the beach and each elder was evaluated to physically transfer in and out of the beach wheelchairs safely. 

Over the summer months, care partners at St. André have accompanied many elders to the beach.  The weather in Maine has cooperated and trips will continue through September and October as beautiful fall days continue through the end of October. Elders are experiencing the sand between their toes and the cold waters of Maine once again!  Memories were sparked and increased communication was brought forth by the elders during the experiences.

When an elder says the following after a beach trip, all the work and effort put into the purchase of the beach wheelchairs was worth it: “I love where I grew up…nothing like the ocean…I have missed it for so many years as it is beautiful.”