Growth in number of people with dementia challenges faith groups

There are over 770,000 people in Canada today living with dementia. By 2030, that number could be more than a million — a “tsunami” of dementia cases, according to Hope for Dementia, a Canadian advocacy organization.

“Current trends in growth of the number of people affected by dementia present an unsustainable trajectory,” the organization states, adding the cost of dementia care will rise from $12 billion in 2020 to $16.6 billion by 2031.

For Canadian society as a whole, it’s going to be a huge challenge. But it’s also challenging for faith groups — especially those Christian denominations that have large numbers of older members. They will be on the frontline of the increase in the numbers of people with cognitive impairment.

How can they respond? One organization that can help is the Alzheimer Society, through its Dementia Friendly Communities program.

For Jessica Harper, who helps lead that program, that means places where people with dementia are respected, understood and supported.

“It’s a place with clear signage that uses both pictures and words, walkways and aisles that are flat and wide, with good lighting and sound,” she said, adding that the Society is available to make site visits to help congregations see how they can be as dementia-friendly as possible.

Faith communities can take measures on their own, such as providing training to clergy, ushers and volunteers to help them assist people with cognitive impairment. And worship leaders can play an important role by including familiar hymns and prayers in services — memories of those songs and liturgies can persist for people with dementia long after other things, like the location of the exit door, are forgotten.

One school that can help congregations with this is Conrad Grebel University College in Waterloo, Ont. Through its Research Institute for Aging, it offers a variety of resources to help congregations minister to people with dementia.

According to Jane Kuepfer, the Institute’s director, people with dementia still have spiritual memories and a need for belonging and meaning. Spirituality, she said, “isn’t something that’s dependent on cognition.”

One denomination that is actively responding is The Seventh Day Adventist Church. It operates an online support group for caregivers of people with dementia.

“The goal is to help people know they aren’t alone in caring for a loved one with dementia,” said Edith Missah-Habaradas, director of health and prayer ministries for the church’s Ontario conference.

Through the group, the message is “‘we see you and resources are available,’” she said.

Individual churches are also involved, such as St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Calgary which offers a day program for people with dementia.

Called Side by Side, the program offers people with dementia activities, crafts, singing and snacks — giving their caregivers time off to do errands or just have time by themselves.

“We saw the exhaustion and heartbreak in caregivers,” says Side by Side co-ordinator Audrey Mann.

Citing the adage that it takes a village to raise a child, Mann said the same is true about caring for someone with dementia. “Congregations can be that village at its best,” she said.

Mollie Cole has over 25 years’ experience working to support older adults as a nurse in Alberta. For her, a dementia friendly congregation is one that makes sure the sanctuary is well lit, the building is easy to navigate and that clergy and others involved in leading services keep people with dementia or cognitive impairment in mind.

“Services need to be accessible,” she said, adding that a way congregations can do that is by projecting song lyrics on a screen. That, she said, really helps those who find it hard to use a hymnal.

Speakers during services can also slow down and enunciate clearly, Cole said, adding congregations can also help by choosing older songs that are familiar to seniors.

“In faith traditions, songs, verses and prayers often live on long in our brains after other memories fade away,” she said of how lyrics remain stored in memories.

Places of worship can also make services dementia-friendly by letting families of people with the disease know they don’t need to be embarrassed if a family member gets up and wanders in the middle of a sermon, or shouts out. “They need to tell families it’s OK to bring their loved one with dementia to a service,” she said.

Too many congregations overlook this important ministry because they are invested in attracting and serving younger families, Cole noted. “They also need to think about ministry for people in the fall and winter of their lives,” she said.

This goes for seminaries, too. “This is no longer an area of special need,” she said of the increasing number of Canadians with dementia. “It is a foundational area of preparation for anyone considering ministry today.”

The writer of Psalm 88:12 asks: “Are your wonders known in the darkness, or your saving help in the land of forgetfulness?” That’s a question faith groups should ask themselves as they think about how to serve people dealing with dementia.

Jdl562000@yahoo.com

The Free Press is committed to covering faith in Manitoba through our Religion in the News project. This reporting continues because readers like you step forward to fund it.

Donate now to support our reporting on religion.
Your donation is eligible for a charitable tax receipt. BECOME A FAITH JOURNALISM SUPPORTER