Content provided in partnership with
Caregivers find capacity for spirituality lingers: Alzheimer's, dementia patients respond to songs, prayers, religious symbols
National Catholic Reporter, Dec 17, 2004 by Patricia Lefevere
An hour before her Aunt Amelia died in September, Gisela Webb stood at her bedside, rubbing her arm and singing "Tantum Ergo." Webb's cousin, the daughter of the dying woman, stood on the other side of the bed, and noticed that her mother's hand moved as if she had recognized or found peace in the ancient Latin hymn.
"People won't believe this, but we both saw her face light up," said Webb, associate professor in the religious studies department at Seton Hall University in New Jersey. Less than an hour later Amelia's long decline into Alzheimer's ended.
- Most Popular Articles in Reference
- The importance of understanding organizational culture
- Credit card attitudes and behaviors of college students
- What factors attract foreign direct investment?
- Libraries Need Relationship Marketing - mutual interest marketing concept, ...
- How to set performance goals: employee reviews are more than annual critiques
- More »
Rabbi Zev Schostak has witnessed similar phenomena. He has seen men and women with dementia and Alzheimer's shift from a state of agitation and anxiety to one of calm when they don a yarmulke or prayer shawl for Shabbat services at Gurwin Jewish Geriatrics Center in Commack, N.Y., where Schostak is director of pastoral care.
At St. Ann's Community in Rochester, N.Y., residents on a special care unit for persons with Aizheimer's and dementia "come visibly more alive" when they attend daily Mass in the chapel just below their residence or watch the liturgy on closed-circuit television in a lounge, said Dean Brown, who manages the unit. "They quiet right down" when one of the unit's caregivers begins the rosary, she said.
According to Mary McCarthy, who directs St. Ann's Adult Day Care Center, the dementia of one man is so progressive that he cannot say a sentence, "but he sings every word of a hymn."
Although no body of scientific evidence exists linking spirituality and religious rites with greater awareness or improved memory among those with Alzheimer's and dementia, experiences such as these are observed daily. Researchers, clinicians and caregivers in senior residences and care facilities across the nation are eager to learn whether elements of religion and spirituality are still accessible to those who appear to have forgotten everything.
"The reality is no one has done this before; this is a new frontier," said Marie Blohm, pastoral ministries manager at Seabrook Village in Tinton Falls, N.J. Seabrook has 1,300 residents, most of whom live independently while about 200 reside in assisted living or skilled nursing quarters. Residents with Alzheimer's and dementia live among the general population, often cared for by their spouses.
Alzheimer's threatens one in 10 persons over 65 and almost half of those over 85, according to the Chicago-based Alzheimer's Association. Since 1980 the number of reported Alzheimer's cases has doubled to an estimated 4.5 million, with 11 million to 16 million likely to develop it by 2050 if no cure is found. Individuals with Alzheimer's live an average eight years, with some living 20 years.
The progressive brain disorder is the prime cause of dementia. Gradually Alzhelmer's destroys memory, alters personality and robs a person's ability to reason, learn, make judgments, communicate and perform daily activities. As it progresses, some individuals manifest behavioral changes, including anxiety, agitation, suspiciousness--even delusions or hallucinations. But professionals working with this population have observed that hearing a psalm being read, dipping fingers into holy water or seeing a Star of David or a clergyperson in religious garb can have a salubrious effect--even on someone who may not know his or her own name or what day it is.
According to Marty Richards, a social worker and an affiliate assistant professor in the School of Social Work at the University of Washington, "Spirituality is one of the things you can still access when your cognitive power is gone." As a college student 40 years ago, Richards helped with Sunday services in a Rock Island, Ill., nursing home. She was amazed that residents with severe dementia suddenly became more attentive when someone approached carrying a Bible. "They know it's a holy book." The words of the Lord's Prayer, the Hail Mary or even an old hymn "clicks off" something in their memory, Richards said.
The Nun Study
Richards and others engaged in the field of spirituality, dementia and Alzheimer's. all commended the research undertaken by Dr. David Snowdon, epidemiologist at the University of Kentucky, with the School Sisters of Notre Dame, based in seven of the sisters' retirement communities.
Since 1991, Snowdon has conducted "The Nun Study" with 678 sisters, who were ages 75 to 102 when he began the research. The nuns in the study undergo an annual blood test, neurological exam and assessment of their physical and mental functions. The investigation also involves looking at the sisters' life in community, their habits of prayer and contemplation, their diet, linguistic and writing skills. The rich archives of the sisters' lives include writing samples dating to their high school years.
All 678 nuns have donated their brains to science and given Snowden permission to conduct an autopsy after their death. Some 80 percent of the nuns in the study have died.
Find Research Guides for:
Find Featured Titles for: Technology
Most Popular Articles in Reference
- The importance of understanding organizational culture
- Credit card attitudes and behaviors of college students
- What factors attract foreign direct investment?
- Libraries Need Relationship Marketing - mutual interest marketing concept, ...
- How to set performance goals: employee reviews are more than annual critiques
- More »