Caregivers working with individuals living with dementia are constantly navigating how to support their well-being, reduce distress, and promote dignity. One often overlooked—but critically important—factor is the person’s type of intelligence. When caregivers misjudge this, especially in cases of intrapersonal intelligence, it can lead to unintentional harm, including anxiety, agitation, and even weight loss.
What is Intrapersonal Intelligence?
Intrapersonal intelligence is one of Howard Gardner’s multiple intelligences. It reflects a person’s deep self-awareness, introspective nature, and preference for solitude or quiet reflection. People with strong intrapersonal intelligence tend to:
- Process thoughts internally
- Avoid social overstimulation
- Thrive in calm, peaceful environments
- Prefer meaningful one-on-one connections over group activities
Even as dementia progresses, many people retain core elements of this intelligence. But when caregivers assume these individuals are simply withdrawn or antisocial, care strategies may be inappropriately social or stimulating—leading to adverse outcomes.
The Impact of Overstimulation: A Real-Life Example
Consider Mrs. L, a retired librarian living with moderate dementia. Her family describes her as always having been introspective, private, and emotionally self-aware. According to the MĪ Care Survey, she retains strong intrapersonal intelligence.
However, her memory care community places all residents in a shared dining room with loud conversations, clanking dishes, and background music. For someone like Mrs. L, this environment is overwhelming. During meals, she becomes anxious and fidgety, often refusing to eat. Over time, this has led to unexplained weight loss and increasing agitation.
Her care team initially treated the symptoms—offering snacks, adjusting her medications—but missed the root issue: the environment was fundamentally misaligned with her intelligence profile.
After identifying her intrapersonal strengths through the MĪ Care Survey, her team made simple adjustments:
- Allowing her to eat in a quieter, more private setting
- Giving her time to settle with a familiar staff member before meals
- Avoiding unnecessary conversation or stimulation during meals
The result? Her appetite returned, her weight stabilized, and her anxiety significantly decreased.
Why Identifying Intelligences Matters
Too often in dementia care, behavioral symptoms are seen as inevitable. But many of these behaviors are preventable responses to mismatched care environments. Identifying a person’s strongest remaining intelligences—especially intrapersonal intelligence—can:
- Help caregivers design calmer, more appropriate daily routines
- Reduce challenging behaviors like agitation or withdrawal
- Promote better nutrition, sleep, and emotional well-being
- Preserve dignity and personhood
At the Center for Holistic Dementia Care, we’ve developed the MĪ Care Survey—the only intelligence survey specifically designed for persons with dementia. It identifies the individual’s retained strengths and guides the creation of a personalized MĪ Care Plan to support care that truly fits.
In Summary
For individuals with dementia and strong intrapersonal intelligence, overstimulating environments can do real harm. But with the right awareness and tools, caregivers can avoid these pitfalls—creating calm, affirming, and effective care experiences.
-Matt Call