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Friday, 18 September 2009 10:09 |
FORGET MEMORY:
Creating Better Live for People with Dementia
By Ann Davis Basting
John Hopkins Press 2009
ISBN 10:0-8018-9250-3
“QUESTION: If you had magic and could change one thing about Alzheimer’s (without curing it) what would it be?
ANSWER: I would fix the fear. As a nurse and caregiver, I feel the most helpless when I’m caring someone with Alzheimer’s disease and they are fearful and I’m not able to alleviate the fear. If I had a magic wand, I would remove the fear factor. Nor just the fear of the early diagnosis of where they are headed, but when the disease advances, where am I? Why am I here? To alleviate the fear would be huge.” (p.168)
As a chaplain I have found clergy often feel anxious in responding pastorally to dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. I find that Forget Memory identifies the cultural context of our anxiety. Ann Basting goes on to provide several examples of work being done that arises from a perspective that still sees the individual as present and capable of participating in meaningful interactions. These examples and this perspective deserve reflection as regards their implications toward spiritual care.
The further I read the more impressed I became with Ann Basting’s book. The first chapter describes five of the common fears associated with dementia:
1. Being a Burden
2. The Unknown
3. Being Out of Control
4. Being Violated or Robbed
5. A Meaningless Existence
She then goes on to explore the complexities of memory: how it works, what it is, and what it is not. As we better understand memory we’re able to see that the loss of memory does not equal the loss of self.
Recognizing that many of our cultural images of memory loss, aging, and Alzheimer’s disease arise out of television, movies, books, and advertising campaigns the second section of the book lays out a timeline of images and events. Most of the stories that simply involved memory loss were unrealistic plot devices to provide a comic situation or the suspense in a drama. As we might guess the images of memory loss attached to aging and Alzheimer’s disease generally portrays a family tragedy (With the recent television series “Boston Legal” held up as a noteworthy exception).
The third section of the book is titled “Moving Through Fear: Stories of Dementia That Inspire Hope.” Outside of being linked to the hope of a cure one would not think that stories of dementia could inspire hope, but Ms Bastings delivers on her promise. The third section is filled with profiles of 10 programs located across the country which challenge the basic assumptions in working with dementia. The basic tenant that runs through each of the programs is a respect for the person as they are now and a belief that their uniqueness continues to be expressed creatively. The people with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease are seen as equal partners in a present day caring relationship, not solely as recipients of care-giving. Many of the identified programs offer the person with dementia or Alzheimer’s disease an opportunity to share their world from its current perspective. Each program is unique yet each one has a common thread of someone believing that there was something more. (An appendix lists contact, website, and product information for each group.)
In these profiles, we find people who happen to have dementia teaching young adults about what is important in life. We hear their voices and original lyrics on professional recordings. We see them capturing the world around them in photography. We see them dancing to original choreography. We read their original stories—both fiction and nonfiction. We become aware that they provide positive models for our own old age. People with dementia offer all of us their vision of the world in images, movements, songs, stories, and phrases. It is a vision both complex and contradictory at times, ranging from the lifting energy of humor to the ache of despair. It is a vision that can teach us about resiliency and the human drive for meaning and recognition regardless of disability. It is a vision that can compel us to reexamine our care practices, long-term care policies, our attitudes toward aging and dementia.(emphasis mine)”
The books conclusion is a list of 12 things we can do to create a culture where people with memory loss, dementia and Alzheimer’s disease will be welcomed.
The Ten Programs
1. StoryCorp (Memory Loss Initiative): A national oral history program promoting Americans to be better listeners and to value the strength and dignity revealed through our life stories.
2. Chicagoland Memory Bridge Initiative: This is an intergenerational program in which students learn about the brain and memory in their classrooms but also are given a “buddy” at a local care facility. While four “buddy visits” are required during the twelve weeks there is often a bonding for both that continues long afterwards.
3. To Whom I May Concern: “is both a play and a technique for creating and presenting a play based on the words of people with early memory loss (p.87).” There were many poignant moments in this chapter.
4. TimeSlips Creative Storytelling Project: This is Ann Bastings own brain child. In 1995 with a Ph.D. in theater studies she moved to Milwaukee. The question that “haunted” her was “whether the power of performance could transform the lives of older men and women with dementia as it clearly did with those without cognitive disabilities (p.95).” (Personally this is the technique I would like becoming more familiar with and to explore a possible hybrid with Peter Pitzele’s Bibliodrama.)
5. Songwriting Works: With a baseline that is all inclusive; people of all ages are invited into the circle. Through skillful facilitation and fierce listening Judith-Kate Friedman will help the circle to birth an original song. Friedman has been training facilitators across the country.
6. Dance: While this chapter offers wonderful examples of art residency programs and community partnerships I’m going to simply highlight the simple truth that we are more than our brain. Our bodies carry memories, they ground us in the present, and movement can be ever so articulate and moving together creates community.
7. The Visual Arts: This chapter is filled with examples of art institutions (i.e. New York’s Museum of Modern Art, Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and the Bruce Museum of Arts & Science in Greenwich, Connecticut) choosing to be consciously welcoming to people with memory loss. This chapter also contains several examples of groups creating programs that involve people with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease actively in producing art (i.e. Artists for Alzheimer’s – ARTZ and Arts for the Aging – AFTA, Elders Share the Arts – ESTA, and what is becoming an umbrella group the National Center on Creative Aging).
8. Duplex Planet: The Art of Conversation: This chapter focuses on the work of David Greenberger. At first I didn’t understand what Mr. Greenberger was doing. He tends to ask some very odd questions that are open ended (e.g. What do you think George Washington’s voice sounded like?). You can see that the point of what he is doing is not to be found in the words, but in the space he creates for building relationships.
9. The Photography of Wing Young Huie: I was interested in this chapter because of seeing Wing Young Huie’s work along Lake Street in Minneapolis. This chapter focuses on Wing Young Huie being awarded the first residency (2006) in applied arts from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee’s Center on Age and Community. Rather than photographs of individuals with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease Wing Young Huie took 3,000 photographs of people with dementia in relationship with others. But he also gave point and shoot cameras to participants in various day centers. Huie hopes to put these photographs together into a touring museum show.
10. Autobiographies by People with Dementia: There are numerous autobiographies that have been written by people with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease which has helped to create a support network in which people share their experiences and emotions. Much advocacy has been done by family members and professionals, but early detection and support has meant that people with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease are acting as their own advocates. There are a growing number of organization and websites run by people with dementia for people with dementia.
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Last Updated on Friday, 18 September 2009 10:11 |
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Spirituality of Aging and The Gift of Years By Joan Chittister |
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Monday, 08 June 2009 20:27 |
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teach the rest of us clearly that we, too, can learn the three great lessons of life:
Happiness in little things;
Fearlessness in everything,
And the presence of strawberries everywhere.
In every situation, clearly, we too like Abraham and Methuselah, like Sarah and the Prophetess Anna, like Moses and the matriarchs, can learn to live life well, to taste life wholly and, most of all, to pass on the meaning of life to those who come stumbling after.
A tourist tramping the mountain villages of northern New England came upon a grizzled old woman sitting in silence on her cabin stoop. “Have you lived here all your life?” the visitor asked.
“Not yet,” the old lady replied.
Is life over after retirement has come and golden jubilees have been passed and the gold watches are all passed out and the home has been sold and work is no longer the reason we get up in the mornings? Are the markers of life simply subtle but insidious signs that all the really important things of life are really over? Oh no, my friends, not yet, not yet, not yet.
And how can we be so sure? That’s simple: because the rest of us still have so much to learn from those who are going the way before us, who have tasted life and found it full of every flavor and come to appreciate them all — because you and I still have so much life yet to live and because we still have so much to learn about happiness, about fearlessness, about tigers and strawberries.
There is no doubt about it: in a world where newness has become the neurosis of the age, we need the elderly now more than ever, so that as Jonathan Swift counsels — we may learn to live all the days of our life.
It is just then, when all the baubles and bangles of life fall away that people begin to teach the really important lessons of in life: how to live without living for things; how to love without loving for personal gain. How to last beyond the million little deaths of life.
It is just then when younger people need the older generation most of all. It is just then that the older generation achieves its greatest stature and carries its greatest responsibilities to the rest of us. It is time for this world to discover a new respect for wisdom; to bring new attention to the spirituality of aging. It is time for the aging to realize their value and claim their responsibilities to the spiritual development of us all.
Indeed, the book of Proverbs teaches us well: “The beauty of the aged is their gray hair.” Because scripture knows well that when a world loses its memory, it loses its way. |
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10 GOSPEL PROMISES FOR LATER LIFE |
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Tuesday, 03 February 2009 13:07 |
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10 GOSPEL PROMISES FOR LATER LIFE
By Jane Marie Thibault
Published 2004 Upper Room Press, Nashville
Dr. Thibault is a clinical gerontologist and Associate Professor of Family and Community Medicine at the School of Medicine, the University of Louisville. This is a thoughtful book informed both by Dr. Thibault’s clinical/academic knowledge and a warm personal piety.
Life expectancy is longer than ever. Scientist believe that we will easily extend our life expectancy to 120 years in the not too distant future. Yet the experiences in later life often call into question our faith in God. If a long life doesn’t sound like good news why not?
How does being a Christian make your experience of aging any different than aging in secular society? “Is there any good news in the Good News for those facing the challenges of later life?”
Dr. Thibault creates the space for dialogue with God. She does not dismiss the fears and questions as inappropriate or as a sign of a lack of faith, but rather she experiences God as one who responds.
10 FEARS
1. I am afraid of God. My parents didn’t love me, and I can’t relate to a God who loves me personally.
2. I’m afraid of not being needed of having nothing left to give to others, family, the church and community.
3. I’m afraid of having to ask friends and strangers for help.
4. I’m afraid of being sick, frail, and dependent.
5. I’m afraid that all I love and treasure will be taken from me (leaving me nothing but a Medicaid bed in a nursing home –if that!)
6. I am afraid of God’s punishment because I have done things for which I can’t forgive myself, and it’s too late to do anything about them.
7. I am afraid of chronic pain and suffering—physical, emotional, and spiritual. Why can’t I end my life when and how I want to?
8. I am afraid my best years are over—it’s all downhill from here. I regret that I haven’t used my talents well. There are many things that I could have done that I just didn’t bother doing. 9. I am afraid that there is no life after death.
10. I am afraid of being left alone.
I’ve come to believe that salvation is just the tip of the gospel iceberg. The depth of the gospel is experienced through a relationship with God that changes and grows over a lifetime. It takes a lifetime to be transformed. As we navigate the many twists, turns, mountains, and valleys of our life journey we become more familiar with God, as our companion on the journey. At first we discover that God seldom lives up to our expectations –bad things happen to us and to people we love. We believe that whatever happens happens because God pulls all the strings; so, we distance ourselves from an unsafe God. Life and people don’t live up to our expectations. Our expectations are based on a projection or image of how things should be.
Most marriages must go through a rocky period when each moves beyond the image of marriage to valuing what the two actually bring and create together; accepting the other as who they really are. Love grows as we value the other not for what they do or who they should be, but for who they are. It is through the actual experience of life that we begin to appreciate the value of knowing that we are not only accepted by God, but that God loves us and is as active in our life as in the life of any biblical character. Our life is filled with divine hugs, nudges, whispers, and the occasional two by four.
Does the gospel (Good News) speak to the fears of aging that elders experience?
Is there any good news in the Good News for older adults?
If there is good news in the Good News, what is it?
Does aging as a Christian differ from aging in secular society? If so, how?
10 PROMISES
1. I am afraid of God. My parents didn’t love me, and I can’t relate to a God who loves me personally. We are God’s beloved children.
2. I’m afraid of not being needed of having nothing left to give to others, family, the church and community. We have a lifelong mission.
3. I’m afraid of having to ask friends and strangers for help. We are spiritual siblings. 4. I’m afraid of being sick, frail, and dependent. Powerlessness is powerful.
5. I’m afraid that all I love and treasure will be taken from me (leaving me nothing but a Medicaid bed in a nursing home –if that!) God will provide.
6. I am afraid of God’s punishment because I have done things for which I can’t forgive myself, and it’s too late to do anything about them. Forgiveness is always offered.
7. I am afraid of chronic pain and suffering—physical, emotional, and spiritual. Why can’t I end my life when and how I want to? Our suffering can be meaningful.
8. I am afraid my best years are over—it’s all downhill from here. I regret that I haven’t used my talents well. There are many things that I could have done that I just didn’t bother doing. It is never too late to grow.
9. I am afraid that there is no life after death. Death is not the end of life.
10. I am afraid of being left alone. Christ is with us always.
1. We are God’s beloved children.
2. We have a lifelong mission.
3. We are spiritual siblings.
4. Powerlessness is powerful.
5. God will provide.
6. Forgiveness is always offered.
7. Our suffering can be meaningful.
8. It is never too late to grow.
9. Death is not the end of life.
10. Christ is with us always.
There are thoughtful questions at the end of each chapter making this an excellent book for group discussion. |
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PLAYING LIFE’S SECOND HALF: A Man’s Guide for Turning Success Into Significance |
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Tuesday, 03 February 2009 13:05 |
PLAYING LIFE’S SECOND HALF:
A Man’s Guide for Turning Success Into Significance
By David J. Powell, Ph.D.
2003, New Harbinger Publications
ISBN 1-57224-335-X
“This book invites you to find a sense of your inner self, your significance, that will outlive any successes you have achieved thus far in life.”
In many non-western traditions elders are recognized as having an important role in the life of the community. Dr. Powell writes a book for men as to why our society desperately needs elders and ways for men to make the transition. (The social critique is echoed in Dr. William Thomas’ What Are Old People For. Dr. Powell writes in the context of the men’s spirituality movement – Richard Rohr, Sam Keen, and Robert Bly).
When the [task of the] second half of life is put at the beginning of life, we have old men still asking boyish, egocentric questions about their own significance and superiority because they did not have the containment to test their own mettle and find their inherent value when they were young. We also have young boys speaking with arrogance and a self-assuredness that is totally udeserved… When the needed clarity of the first half of life is put off until the second, it merely becomes strong opinions, absolutes, jingoism, and cultural imperatives among older men whom we need for integrity, broad-mindedness, statesmanship, and the reign of God. Initiation culturally assured the young man that it was time to put away childish things and to carry an adult persona.
Bill Thomas calls this the cult of “adulthood” where children are expected to behave as adults and one is to remain an “adult” as long as one can. To be anything other than an “adult” (i.e. child or elder) is a negative. Dr. Powell would describe it more as the first half of life is about the outer achievements – what we do (Freud / Erikson: Differentiation) and the second half of life is about “why to live”, exploring the inner depths – what are our passions, who do we love (Erikson: Integrity). My definition of spirituality is connections; how we connect with self, others, life, and the divine. I would say that the second-half is about valuing the connections.
As Powell says, “If [longevity] simply adds biological time to your life, not matched by an expansion of awareness your life can be depressing.” We enter into the second-half of life most often through what we call a midlife crisis, which generally is triggered by an intense experience of our limitations – we no longer can do what we used to do, an experience of powerlessness – things are happening around us that we can’t do anything about, and / or an awareness of our mortality – the knowledge that everyone dies becomes I WILL DIE. In our culture because all the emphasis is placed upon productivity and power the response is often to grasp after symbols of youth and productivity. We thus miss seeing this as a reorientation into another stage of life, highly valued within many spiritual traditions. |
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Ministering to Older Adults: The Building Blocks |
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Thursday, 18 September 2008 19:07 |
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Ministering to Older Adults: The Building Blocks Donald R. Koepke, M.Div., B.C.C., Editor. Binghamton, NY: The Haworth Pastoral Press, 2005.
Review by Nancy Gordon, CSA Director
This is the book that every church needs if it wants to build or improve its ministry to and with older adults. It is written as a handbook that tells you "how"-with accompanying assessments and planning tools. But more importantly it gets to the "why" of ministry to older adults. It calls churches to concentrate on what they do best-focus on spiritual needs. In the last two-thirds of the book, "Programming Based on Spiritual Needs," the authors call for programming that aids older adults in their spiritual development, in continued education, with opportunities to serve, with opportunities to be served and to share, and with opportunities to be involved in community. The chapters by Ray Mattes (The Aging Process: A Journey of Lifelong Spiritual Formation) and Bob Rost (Providing Quality Pastoral Care as a Congregation) are particularly rich. I would recommend that committees using this book as a guide for developing older adult ministries read at least those two chapters, if not all the chapters in Part Two, before they begin their work, or at least read them as they do the work on the "nuts and bolts" of organizing a ministry.
I suggest this because I know it's easy to get caught up in the "nuts and bolts." And I think we sometimes view ministry to older adults as something the church "should" do, rather than seeing it as an opportunity for spiritual development of the whole congregation-since we're all aging and what we develop for older adults may aid our own spiritual formation and growth. Focusing on the spiritual nature of this task from the beginning grounds us in the joy of ministry, rather than the drudgery of completing tasks. And focusing on the spiritual nature reminds us that we have more resources than we sometimes think we do, and it is God's work that we are doing.
So give this book to your older adult ministry team, committee or task force. When you get this book you are getting wise counsel from many experienced practitioners of ministry with older adults. And you can order it from the Northeast Forum on Spirituality & Aging for $20. Contact Rev. Brian McCaffrey at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
or (315) 235 - 7125 .
Do you have a favorite book on spirituality and aging or older adult ministry? Email title, copyright date, publisher and ISBN number plus your own description to
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Book Reviews
