Alzheimer's & Theology


Book Description

The fact that Americans are living longer, healthier lives coupled with his own aging motivated the author to write this book. As Baby Boomers age, more than one in five Americans will be over 65 years old. This increase in the average age of Americans will have a widespread impact on every aspect of society, and is already beginning to be felt. This impact has inspired Dr. Liu to write this book in an effort to relieve the sufferings of those who have been diagnosed with this dreaded brain disease and their caregivers who suffer along with them. The author affirms that it is God’s love through Christ which encourages him to provide reason of hope in God’s remembrance: hope that is from an informed theological perspective, a sense of purpose in the face of this disease. Because of the author’s godly motive and desire to offer help for sufferers, the author provides comfort through assurances that the sufferer’s conditions are not leading to the end of their lives.




Dementia


Book Description

Winner of the Michael Ramsay Prize 2016 Dementia is one of the most feared diseases in Western society today. Some have even gone so far as to suggest euthanasia as a solution to the perceived indignity of memory loss and the disorientation that accompanies it. Here, John Swinton develops a practical theology of dementia for caregivers, people with dementia, ministers, hospital chaplains, and medical practitioners as he explores two primary questions: • Who am I when I’ve forgotten who I am? • What does it mean to love God and be loved by God when I have forgotten who God is? Offering compassionate and carefully considered theological and pastoral responses to dementia and forgetfulness, Swinton’s Dementia redefines dementia in light of the transformative counter story that is the gospel.




Second Forgetting


Book Description

There is hope in Alzheimer's disease, but it isn't where most people look for it... Any form of dementia is terrifying and lonely for both the one suffering it and for those close to them. How do our relationships with those we love change with loss of memory or clarity of thought? What happens to our relationship with God? For those suffering from early-stage Alzheimer's, for their friends and family, community and church, this book will help you understand the disease itself, how to love and care for those affected by it, and how to see the hope that's greater than it: we may forget, but God always remembers. With pastoral tenderness and gospel confidence, Dr. Benjamin Mast shares his expertise on the subject and displays the power of the gospel that remains intact even when memory fades. Second Forgetting provides: Up-to-date answers to common questions about the disease and its effect on personal identity and faith. Personal stories of those affected and the loved ones who care for them and what their experiences were like—where they found hope and how they most needed support. Practical suggestions for how the church can come alongside families and those struggling or hurting. When a person is diagnosed with Alzheimer's, they face great uncertainty, knowing that they can expect to live their remaining years with increasing confusion and progressively greater reliance upon other people to care for them. Dr. Mast will help you see how Alzheimer's disease cannot have the final say on God's unforgotten children.




Forgetting Whose We are


Book Description

Alzheimer's disease - a degenerative disease of the central nervous system characterized especially by premature mental deterioration - is the most publicly visible and widely discussed form of a range of disorders known as senile dementia. The nature of Alzheimer's disease, especially its progressive debilitation of the memory, raises key theological issues. What does it mean to be truly human? Does our ability to remember define who we are as persons? When the mind loses its ability to remember, what happens to the life of the soul? When we forget God, does God still remember us? Forgetting Whose We Are offers a Christian understanding of and response to the difficult theological, spiritual, and pastoral problems raised by Alzheimer's disease. Filling an important gap in existing literature by directly confronting the theological challenges of Alzheimer's disease to victims, caregivers, and their communities, the book affirms the classic Christian doctrines that witness to the reality of grace and the promises of salvation even for those who can no longer remember themselves, their families, or their relationship with God.




The Person with Alzheimer's Disease


Book Description

The first book to provide a comprehensive look at what it's like to have dementia and the subjective experience of living with progressive memory loss. Few families are untouched by Alzheimer's disease or a related dementia. Moving accounts of what it is like to care for someone with this disease have already been published, as well as how-to books that offer caregivers advice and information on coping. But this book is the first to provide a comprehensive report of what it is like to have dementia oneself—the subjective experience of living with progressive memory loss. Each chapter discusses a different aspect of having dementia, from the initial assessment and diagnosis through placement in a nursing home. The discussions are grounded in qualitative research and case studies, which convey the variable and personal nature of the experience. They seek to help clinicians, researchers, students, and caregivers (both professionals and family members) understand the experience of dementia, and thereby to promote better caregiving through a person-centered approach. Contributors: Kathleen Kahn-Denis, Judson Retirement Community; Casey Durkin, a psychotherapist in Cleveland, Ohio; Jane Gilliard, Dementia Voice, UK; Phyllis Braudy Harris, John Carroll University; John Keady, University of Wales, UK; John Killick, University of Stirling, UK; Rebecca G. Logsdon, University of Washington; Charlie Murphy, University of Stirling, UK; Alison Phinney, University of British Columbia, Canada; Steven R. Sabat, Georgetown University; Dorothy Seman, Alzheimer's Family Care Center, Chicago; Lisa Snyder, University of California, San Diego; Jane Stansell, Alzheimer's Family Care Center, Chicago; Gloria Sterin, Shaker Heights, Ohio; Jon C. Stuckey, Messiah College; Robyn Yale, Consultant to the Alzheimer's Association, San Francisco; Rosalie Young, Wayne State University School of Medicine.




Do This, Remembering Me


Book Description

Memory loss should not be spiritual loss. “What do I do to help?” Alzheimer’s is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States, almost everyone knows someone with some form of dementia, yet few know how to answer that question, and very little material exists on providing spiritual care to adults with dementia-related diseases. Even seminaries rarely provide training or clinical pastoral education in this field. This book is an answer. It provides a hands-on manual that will give clergy, spiritual care providers, and family members an understanding of the ongoing spiritual needs of individuals with dementia, as well as practical tools such as how to create a religious service in a memory care unit and how one might plan a nursing home visit. Accessibly written, with real life applications and sample services for a variety of settings. More than just useful, the book inspires with shared stories that are tender, sad, funny—and sometimes all three at once, encouraging readers to develop spiritual care ministries for people with memory loss in congregations, homes, nursing facilities, or other communities—a ministry that will only gain in importance in the coming decade, as Baby Boomers age and the number of people with Alzheimer’s and dementia skyrockets.




The Ethics of Sex and Alzheimer's


Book Description

A growing epidemic, Alzheimer’s punishes not only its victims but also those married to them. This book analyzes how Alzheimer’s is quietly transforming the way we think about love today. Without meaning to become rebels, many people who find themselves "married to Alzheimer’s" deflate the predominant notion of a conventional marriage. By falling in love again before their ill spouse dies, those married to Alzheimer’s come into conflict with central values of Western civilization – personal, sexual, familial, religious, and political. Those who wait sadly for a spouse’s death must sometimes wonder if the show of fidelity is necessary and whom it helps. Most books on Alzheimer’s focus on those who have it, as opposed to those who care for someone with it. This book offers a powerful and searching meditation on the extent to which someone married to Alzheimer’s should be expected to suffer loneliness. The diagnosis of dementia should not amount to a prohibition of sexual activity for both spouses. Portmann encourages readers to risk honesty in assessing the moral dilemma, using high-profile cases such as Nancy Reagan and Justice Sandra Day O'Connor to illustrate the enormity of the problem. Ideal for classes considering the ethics of aging and sexuality.




Practical Theology for Aging


Book Description

Learn new approaches for strengthening the religious bonds of our aging population! Through Scripture, studies, and the personal experiences of religious leaders and congregants, Practical Theology for Aging offers new concepts for ministering to our older population. Each chapter looks at a different concern for the elderly and addresses it with the assurance that aging is part of God’s great work. From scientific models and case studies to passages from both the Old and New Testaments, this volume illuminates the power of faith in keeping the elderly whole and well. Practical Theology for Aging reveals several barriers to the spiritual wellness of our elders. These include society’s stereotypical views of frailty and incompetence in older people, the lack of common support by communities of faith, and the dissatisfaction of the elderly with outdated, traditional answers to their concerns of aging, suffering, and death. Each barrier can be overcome by utilizing the practical theology you will find in this book. Restated throughout the volume is the message that the journey into old age does not have to be filled with dread and fear but can be seen as a path to spiritual maturity. This book has practical suggestions that address: God’s purpose for aging—why do we have to grow old? sexual health for senior citizens the suffering and physical debilitation that sometimes accompany aging afflictions like dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, and how to minister to the unresponsive the inclusion of spirituality in rehabilitation to heal the whole person after catastrophic illness or injury preaching to senior citizens as opposed to preaching to a younger congregation so much more! Practical Theology for Aging presents tips and strategies for spiritual advisement as well as traditional quotes and references reminding us to respect and honor our aging men and women. Whether you are a religious leader, caretaker, family member, or esteemed elder, this book is vital for strengthening spirituality in the elderly and promoting their inclusion into the religious community.




What Happens to Faith When Christians Get Dementia?


Book Description

What happens to faith when Christians get dementia? Here, the unique voices of Christians who live with this illness bring insight and prompt theological reflection on the profound questions that dementia asks of faith. Within the boundaries of a biblical agenda, these questions are explored using a model of orientation, disorientation, and reorientation (reminiscent of Brueggemann's scheme), to seek deeper understanding of faith experience and practice. Arising from the research, fresh theological insights and challenges for the church call for new, creative practices to enable the faith nurture of disciples of Jesus living with this disease. Counterintuitively, the study reveals a growing, positive experience of faith in the light of dementia highlighting the significance of Christian hope. Faith does not end with diagnosis of this illness.




Reconstructing Pastoral Theology


Book Description

In Pastoral Care in the Classical Tradition, Andrew Purves argued that pastoral care and theology has long ignored Scripture and Christian doctrine, and pastoral practice has become secularized in both method and goal, the fiefdom of psychology and the social sciences. He builds further on this idea here, presenting a christological basis for ministry and pastoral theology.




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