Ten Years of Purpose: Applying Multiple Intelligences to Transform Dementia Care
By Matthew Call, Co-founder, Center for Holistic Dementia Care
Over a decade ago, I found myself asking a question that changed everything:
“What if we focused not just on what people with dementia have lost—but on what they still have?”
That question led me to the work of Dr. Howard Gardner, the Harvard cognitive scientist behind the groundbreaking Theory of Multiple Intelligences (MI). His research made one thing clear: there’s no single kind of intelligence. People express ability in many ways—through music, language, movement, interpersonal connection, and beyond.
I wondered: Could this theory apply to people living with dementia? Could understanding a person’s preserved intelligences guide us in offering more meaningful, dignified, and effective care?
So I set out to find the answer.
A Decade of Discovery
For the past ten years, I’ve worked to translate Gardner’s theory into the complex world of dementia care—creating practical tools that caregivers, clinicians, and families can use every day.
This work became the foundation of what is now the MĪ Care Survey and Plan—a tool that helps identify an individual’s remaining strengths across the multiple intelligences framework and provides personalized care recommendations based on those strengths.
We weren’t just creating another assessment—we were building a new way to see and support people with dementia.
From Theory to Transformation
The MĪ Care Survey and Plan has now helped hundreds of individuals across care settings—home care agencies, residential communities, day programs, and families caring for loved ones at home.
Here’s what we’ve seen:
- A woman thought to be unresponsive becomes engaged when caregivers read aloud to her—her preserved verbal-linguistic intelligence coming to life.
- A man who no longer speaks still smiles and moves to rhythm—his musical-rhythmic intelligence offering a bridge to connection.
- Caregivers, once overwhelmed, report feeling more confident and less stressed when they understand how to relate to someone meaningfully.
This isn’t just anecdotal—it’s consistent. The moment care becomes strengths-based, everything changes: engagement improves, behaviors decline, and dignity is restored.
What Makes MĪ Care Different
While traditional person-centered care focuses on preferences, the MĪ Care approach goes deeper—rooting care in cognitive strengths that often remain even as memory fades.
The survey, powered by AI, takes input from caregivers or family and delivers a personalized plan in seconds—complete with engagement ideas, communication tips, and environmental strategies based on the person’s top intelligences.
It’s quick, consistent, scalable, and profoundly human.
A Vision Realized—and Just Beginning
Dr. Gardner has recognized our work twice on his MI Oasis blog and will soon feature it in Harvard’s Project Zero Impact Report—a testament to the importance of this application beyond clinical boundaries.
What began as a question has now become a movement—and we’re only getting started.
If you’re a caregiver, provider, or organization looking to offer more than basic support—if you want to deliver care that sees the person beneath the diagnosis—I invite you to learn more about the MĪ Care Survey and Plan.
Because every person still has something to give—and we can still give them something meaningful in return.
