McKinney, Texas — Tonja Moon walked into the lobby of Golden Grace Assisted Living, cradling a baby doll in the crook of her arm, her steps purposeful as she approached the residents seated in chairs and on couches.
“Hey everybody,” she greeted them warmly, holding up the baby. “Look what we have.”
As Moon and other volunteers with the Grand Baby Project distributed more dolls to the memory care patients, some residents seemed to catch on, asking, “Is she a real baby?”
“If you want her to be,” Moon responded, a smile spreading across her face.
While the baby dolls are, in fact, not living beings, they offer something incredibly valuable to the residents. “We just want to give them the opportunity to have purpose every single day,” Moon said, explaining the concept of dementia doll therapy. “It’s really just a way for residents to have purpose and connection.”
For the past five years, Moon and her Texas-based nonprofit have been delivering dolls to memory care units and residents across the country. Although the practice of using dolls for elderly care is common in other countries, it was a new concept for Moon when she first encountered it.
She started the Grand Baby Project after witnessing how her own grandmother reacted to a baby doll. “We literally wrapped up this tiny little doll in a nursing home towel,” Moon recalled. “She thought she’d been handed a newborn.”
Last year alone, the project delivered 3,000 baby dolls worldwide, and Moon compares the therapy to pet therapy. “It gives residents a reason to be healthy and embrace their nurturing instinct,” she said.
Erika Brown, a staff member at Golden Grace Assisted Living, shared the positive impact the dolls have had on the residents. “Depending on where they are, they take the baby and they love on them because it reminds them of a time when they held their own baby or grandbaby.”
Moon has witnessed significant improvements in residents’ wellbeing due to the dolls. “You can see the smiles yourself of how wonderful it really, truly is,” said Brown. “Even the guys, even though you don’t expect them to really get involved, they really go for it.”
The dolls will remain at Golden Grace for residents to care for, and Moon plans to return in a year to celebrate the babies’ birthdays with them.
