REMEMBERING GOD- FAITH IN
A TIME OF DEMENTIA
1. Stories and meanings
Dr Peter Kevern
[email protected]
THE CLINICAL STORY:
Dementia is a syndrome due to disease of the brain,
usually of a chronic or progressive nature, in which there is
disturbance of multiple higher cortical functions, including
memory, thinking, orientation, comprehension, calculation,
learning capacity, language, and judgement. Consciousness
is not clouded. The impairments of cognitive function are
commonly accompanied, and occasionally preceded, by
deterioration in emotional control, social behaviour, or
motivation. This syndrome occurs in Alzheimer's disease, in
cerebrovascular disease, and in other conditions primarily
or secondarily affecting the brain.
(ICD-10)
THE CULTURAL STORY
Headlines in the last month:
• Hope for Alzheimer's sufferers as scientists develop new
drug to treat dementia (Mirror)
• Are YOU worried about dementia? Revealed, the 6
proven ways to prevent memory loss as you grow older
(Mail)
• Buona notte Papa: the long goodbye to a parent with
dementia (Guardian)
• Prostate cancer treatment could double the chance of
dementia (Telegraph)
• 'Dementia link to sudden low blood pressure and
dizziness’ (BBC)
• Weightlifting ‘BOOSTS brain power – and helps fight off
dementia’ (Sun)
Types of dementia
T
H
E
N
U
M
B
E
R
S
G
A
M
What ‘key
messages’ do you
pick up?
Dementia awareness week, 2016
Lies, damned lies and statistics
Alzheimer’s society, 2014
THE STORIES THAT
MATTER
Sharing stories
Reflecting on your first-hand experience of
dementia, what issues arise for your
understanding of:
• God and theology
• People and personhood
• Church and the life of faith
SOME KEY ISSUES FOR
DISCUSSION:
1. If a person with dementia is ‘praying without
understanding’, what do we think is going on?
2. If a person with dementia is still loved by God,
what does that tell us about God and faith?
3. How can we as a Church minister to people
with dementia and their carers?
4. What is the Good News that we have to preach
to a society terrified of dementia?
WHERE IS GOD IN ALL THIS?
Some options:
• God is always there, unchanging though
hidden
• Giving us dementia to test us
• Closer to us than breath, sharing in our
dementia