Spirituality and Dementia
  • Home
  • About
    • Janice's story
  • Science and Theology
    • Science of Dementia >
      • Dementia, Alzheimer’s and Normal Aging – some definitions
      • Healthy brain – memory and forgetting
      • Causes of and Risks for Alzheimer’s, stages of Alzheimer’s
      • Hope for Alzheimer’s
    • Theology of Dementia
  • Dementia Friendly Congregations
    • For churches and other groups
  • Our Picks
    • Resources of interest in the DC/MD/VA area
  • Contact
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Science, theology and stories can help us understand the physical, emotional, and spiritual  aspects of dementia. What do we understand about the stages of the disease and what is happening in the brain? Does dementia impact a person's identity as a person of faith or an atheist or in between? How can we use these insights for better care and better advocacy for people with dementia? Learn more by exploring this site and the resources under "our picks."
See article in Sojourner's Magazine
See article on website Being Patient
Click for church/spiritual group resources

Science

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​Understanding dementia as a disease of the brain helps us to keep a focus on understanding symptoms and appreciating just how much of the brain does function even until the last stages. There is no one area of the brain for “self” or “spirituality,” and the diseases causing dementia cannot destroy these aspects. We look to the scientific research with hope for a cure.
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Theology

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​God is the center of all things and is in relationship with us, and nothing - no illness - diminishes that. Old ideas pointed to rationality as the hallmark of being human, but current theologians broaden to include love, appreciation of beauty and nature, consciousness and spirituality, which are not lost in dementia. The community serves to maintain a person's identity. God has our memory even when we do not.
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Spirituality

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People with dementia may move easily among different forms of spirituality: intense awareness of the present, transcendence of the personal self, and feeling of connection with the universe, a supreme being or web of being.
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  • Home
  • About
    • Janice's story
  • Science and Theology
    • Science of Dementia >
      • Dementia, Alzheimer’s and Normal Aging – some definitions
      • Healthy brain – memory and forgetting
      • Causes of and Risks for Alzheimer’s, stages of Alzheimer’s
      • Hope for Alzheimer’s
    • Theology of Dementia
  • Dementia Friendly Congregations
    • For churches and other groups
  • Our Picks
    • Resources of interest in the DC/MD/VA area
  • Contact