Supporting Spiritual Engagement for People Living with Dementia
Issue: Vol 4 No. 2 (2016)
Journal: Health and Social Care Chaplaincy
Subject Areas: Healthcare Communication
Abstract:
The article lays out the results from an extensive literature review exploring the spiritual and religious lives of people living with dementia. The ways in which informal spiritual practices such as prayer, praise and worship can enhance people’s spiritual lives are outlined. Alongside formal spiritual practices the article highlights that more generically spiritual things such as finding meaning, forgiveness, acceptance, reminiscence and value are crucial dimensions of the spiritual lives of people living with dementia. It concludes by noting the importance of using a multi-sensory approach which enables individuals to connect with their spirituality in more concrete, tangible ways.
Author: Emily Smeaton, Craig Maher
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