Centre for Policy on Ageing



The lived experience of spirituality and dementia in older people living with mild to moderate dementia
Author(s)	Padmaprabha Dalby, David J Sperlinger, Stephen Boddington
Journal title	Dementia: the international journal of social research and practice, vol 11, no 1, January 2012
Pages	pp 75-94
Source	http://dem.sagepub.com/
Keywords	Dementia ; Spiritual characteristics [elderly] ; Faith ; Religion ; Attitude.
Annotation	This study aimed to understand how older people's experiences of spirituality, religion or faith were affected by having dementia, and how the spiritual aspects of their lives affected the experience of dementia. Six older people from the southeast of England with mild to moderate dementia were interviewed about their experience of spirituality and dementia. Five themes were identified: experience of faith; searching for meaning in dementia; 'I'm not as I was' - changes and losses in experience of the self; staying intact; and current pathways to spiritual connection and expression. The authors conclude that the findings offer a unique perspective on the experience of spirituality and dementia, uniting themes from both research and theory concerning the experience of the self and the experience of spirituality in dementia. Implications for dementia care services and pastoral care are discussed. (JL).
Accession Number	CPA-120626005 A
Classmark	EA: EX: EX5: TR: DP
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...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.