Tributes paid to Irish nun remembered for pioneering work on dementia

Sr Mary Threadgold 'consistently challenged the misconception that people with advanced dementia could no longer communicate or benefit from meaningful interaction'. File picture

A nun who helped change dementia care in Ireland by challenging the idea that people with the condition cannot understand the world around them has died, aged 87.

Sr Mary Threadgold will be remembered for her pioneering work in developing the Sonas programme, which is now used around the world.

Sonas aPc (activating potential for communication) was established as a not-for-profit organisation in 1996. 

The charity changed its name to Engaging Dementia in 2018.

The group said in a statement: “Her pioneering work transformed the lives of thousands of people living with dementia in Ireland and beyond through the creation of the Sonas Programme”.

Sr Threadgold set up the programme over 30 years ago. It was among the first evidence-based projects for people with mid- to late-stage dementia in Ireland.

It uses music, movement, touch, reminiscence, sensory experiences, and other approaches to help people with dementia communicate or be interested in communicating.

Engaging Dementia says the programme is being used in the UK, Norway, and Finland, as well as in Australia and Japan.

“Sr Mary’s greatest legacy, however, lies not only in the programme itself but in the philosophy behind it,” said the organisation.

“She consistently challenged the misconception that people with advanced dementia could no longer communicate or benefit from meaningful interaction.

“Instead, she believed that with patience, understanding, and the right approach, every person retained their individuality and deserved to be treated with dignity, respect and compassion.

Sr Threadgold was a member of the Religious Sisters of Charity, which she joined in the 1950s. 

She was born in Dublin and trained in London as a speech and language therapist before doing an MSc in human communications.

She worked with people living with intellectual disabilities in the 1980s in Galway.

“She had often been struck by the sight of older people in nursing homes, gathered together in day rooms without interacting or being communicated with and many of whom were living with dementia,” said Engaging Dementia.

“Influenced by her training and her personal conviction that love and respect needed to underpin any professional approach to meeting the communication needs of such a group of older people, she turned her attention to them.” 

Sr Threadgold’s brother Fr Jerry Threadgold developed lewy body dementia in 2005. 

This is believed to be the second most common form of the disease after Alzheimer’s.

Her visits to his nursing home inspired her to write a booklet with advice on visiting older people and supporting them.

Sr Mary will repose at Corrigan & Sons Funeral Home, Camden St, Dublin, on Friday. 

Her funeral Mass will take place at St Mary's Star of the Sea Church, Sandymount, at 11am on Saturday, followed by burial in the community cemetery in Donnybrook.