Spirituality and Personhood in Dementia

Author: Paul Green, Padmaprabha Dalby, Harriet Mowat, Gaynor Hammond, Wendy Shiels, Margaret Goodall, Murray Lloyd, Brian Allen, Malcolm Goldsmith and John Swinton

Presenting the theoretical structure and practical understanding required for an inter-disciplinary approach to spirituality and personhood in dementia care

Offering an inter-disciplinary approach to spirituality and personhood in dementia care, the contributors to this book are leading practitioners and researchers in the field. They provide both a theoretical structure and a practical understanding of the essential role that spirituality can play in the affirmation of personhood and identity.

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Summary

Presenting the theoretical structure and practical understanding required for an inter-disciplinary approach to spirituality and personhood in dementia care

Description

Positive shifts in attitudes mean that emphasis is now being placed on the person with dementia and their personal relationships, rather than the illness. There is also growing recognition of the significance of a person's spiritual life in forming an essential basis for their sense of identity, and in providing them with a resource for coping.

Offering an inter-disciplinary approach to spirituality and personhood in dementia care, the contributors to this book are leading practitioners and researchers in the field. They provide both a theoretical structure and a practical understanding of the essential role that spirituality can play in the affirmation of personhood and identity, and of ways in which the spiritual well-being of people with dementia can be nurtured. This thought-provoking book includes chapters approaching the subject from Christian and Buddhist perspectives, discussion of inter-faith relations, and of what spirituality might mean for those not part of any faith tradition.

This will be valuable reading for nurses, care workers, care commissioners and pastoral support professionals interested in a more holistic and contemplative approach to caring for people with dementia.

Critic Reviews

“This book would be useful for any individual interested in the topics it covers, due to the varying backgrounds of people writing the chapters.”

...an informative and stimulating collection of essays that will enable any reader to be better informed about dementia. -- Modern Believing - The Journal of Liberal Journal
...both of these books (Spirituality and Personhood in Dementia by Albert Jewell and Palliative Care, Ageing and Spirituality by Elizabeth Mackinlay), (...) are infused with glimpse of grace and courage, can inspire the reader to give thanks and cherish all that is good, and to live life as fully as we are able, even in the midst of frailty. -- The Way
Each reader will benefit differently from the various chapters according to their present needs for understanding: every chapter has something to offer... There is much in this book to make one reconsider deep-rooted prejudiced thinking about dementia. -- Journal of Ageing & Society
Spirituality and Personhood in Dementia... is a superb collection of 18 wide-ranging and sometimes very challenging essays on dementia from which eventually some 30% of us will suffer. Although in some ways a specialist book, it would benefit any pastor. -- Ministry Today UK
-- Signpost
"Aspies on Mental Health" brings together a collection of 17 personal accounts which highlight these frustrations, including difficulties in gaining an appropriate diagnosis, lack of available post-diagnostic support, reactions from society, as well as coming to some sort of personal understanding of their diagnosis... the book offers important advice for the autism community, health professionals and families. The voice of those with Asperger's Syndrome is of paramount importance in influencing policy and practice and this book provides a great step in opening up that debate. -- Joanna Griffin, Chartered Counselling Psychologist

Spirituality is seen as no longer the exclusive right of those with recognised religious belief systems. In many ways this is a considerable move forward.

A key theme in the book is not to speculate or judge people in terms of stereotypes. I recommend this book to nurses, carers and managers looking for a more holistic and contemplative approach to care.

-- Nursing Standards
Doctor Jewell's introductory chapter is a master-class in how to introduce such a collection. Not for him a tedious listing of who will say what, why and how. He has messages to convey and does so in a structure of his own design, decorated and informed by reference to the chapters which will follow and to the wider world of literature... There are eighteen essays, each with an individual author. All but three come from the UK. Dr Jewell's first compilation was ground breaking and can be seen to have been a major influence releasing the subsequent publication of many books and learned papers on the subject of spirituality, religion and late life and its associated pathologies. Thinking, speaking and writing on these subjects now has the benefit of all that has been said between times. The current collection includes many cross-references to colleagues contributing to this and other publications, often from the supportive Jessica Kingsley stable... This is a valuable collection of essays. It will become a favourite resource for teaching in lay and professional circles. -- Dementia UK
Although there are many contributors to this text, there is a consistent harmony running through the chapters. The emphasis on relationships, personhood, and quality of care, the fear of dementia and the faith which sustains people living with dementia are beautifully illustrated... Everyone involved with persons with dementia will find this book an invaluable tool in understanding and meeting the needs of the people about whom they are concerned. -- International Journal of Person Centered Medicine
Spirituality & Personhood in Dementia confronts the central issue of dementia: the change in personhood experienced by those suffering from its conditions and by those who live with them or care for them, and what we can do about it. Every chapter in this book offers hope: not of a cure, but of human coping with conditions which seem to take away everything we understand as human... It is a book packed with intelligent commentary and fascinating practice; it has the poetry of life stories and personal encounters, the prose of academic reflection and debate on issues most avoid but again and again, a simple message: the person with dementia is still a person, not a relic from the past but living now. -- plus (Quarterly Magazine of Christian Council on Ageing)
Generally we don't pay sufficient attention to the spiritual life of care home residents. It is noticeable that homes that have a strong religious and/or spiritual belief or culture often provide residents with great support and purpose. This book has eighteen varied chapters all of which will get you thinking and will help you to develop the important spiritual element of care work. -- Caring Times

About the Author

Julian C. Hughes is a consultant in Old Age Psychiatry at North Tyneside General Hospital and an Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer in the Institute for Ageing and Health at the University of Newcastle. He is currently the Chair of the Philosophy Special Interest Group of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. He also held a short-term Fellowship in 2003 from the Wellcome Trust to consider quality of life in dementia. Elizabeth MacKinlay is a registered nurse and an Anglican priest. She is Director of the Centre for Ageing and Pastoral Studies at St Mark's National Theological Centre, Canberra, and a Professor in the School of Theology, Charles Sturt University. Elizabeth was Chair of the ACT Ministerial Advisory Council on Ageing in 2008 and is the ACT Senior Australian of the Year for 2009. John Killick has been the Writer in Residence and Poet Mentor on several Poetry and Dementia projects over the last 25 years. He currently runs a residential Poetry and Dementia course in Wales.

More on this Book

In recent years, there has been a positive shift in attitudes towards caring for people with dementia, with a new emphasis being placed on the person rather than the problem, and towards a relationship-centred rather than an individual approach. Within this context of person-centred care, there is growing recognition of the significance of a person's spirituality in providing them with a sense of identity and a resource for coping.This book offers an inter-disciplinary discourse on spirituality and personhood in dementia, and brings together the perspectives of a wide range of leading theologians, researchers and practitioners in the field. It provides health care professionals with both a rationale and a practical understanding of the fundamental role that spirituality can play in the affirmation of personhood, and in a person with dementia's sense of wellbeing. This thought-provoking collection also includes discussions of inter-faith relations and what 'spirituality' might mean for the non-religious, as well as chapters approaching the subject from Christian and Buddhist perspectives.This will be valuable reading for nurses, care workers, care commissioners and pastoral support professionals interested in a more holistic and contemplative approach to caring for people with dementia.