Praying for those with lived experience of dementia

Last Friday I took the funeral of Jean Bateman, a long-time member of St John's Seven Kings and Ward Sister at Chadwell Heath Hospital, while yesterday I led the Memorial Service for Dame Mary Glen Haig at St Martin-in-the-Fields.

One key connection, besides a shared involvement in healthcare, between the two services was the onset of dementia in the latter years of both whose lives we celebrated. In the prayers which drew the various threads of Dame Mary's Memorial Service together I prayed for those who experience dementia and those who are alongside providing care. This prayer was particularly appreciated by those who attended the service from Vale House, where Dame Mary lived for the final two years of her life.  

Their sense that prayer for those with dementia and those who are carers was unusual is an indication of the need for the Dementia Friends awareness campaign, which is also being taken into churches. St Martin's has already held one moving and informative evening on the theme of lived experience of dementia, and is planning more such evenings.

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Edward Elgar - Nimrod.

Dementia Friendly Churches

While at Greenbelt, I attended a session run by Livability and the Alzheimer's Society about Dementia Friendly Churches and, as a result, am now officially a Dementia Friend.

The Dementia Friendly Churches Initiative offers a range of services / resources to support churches to become more accessible and inclusive for people with dementia and their carers.

Dementia Friendly Churches Initiative offers a number of services:

• An audit to assess how dementia friendly your church currently is and develop an action plan.
• Mentoring – on-going mentoring and advice for your church or organisation.
• A one off ‘Dementia Friends’ training session for your church or organisation.
• A four part series of training/workshops for your church/ organisation.

 

Dementia is a disease which impairs people’s ability to remember, think and make choices. Globally, Dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, is one of the biggest global public health challenges facing our generation. Today, over 35 million people worldwide currently live with the condition and this number is expected to double by 2030 and more than triple by 2050 to 115 million. In the UK alone, it currently affects 800,000 people and that number is expected to double in the next 30 years.

Tackling Dementia has been a key priority for the current Government; in 2012 Prime Minister, David Cameron launched the Dementia Challenge – an ambitious three year programme designed to make a real difference to people with dementia and their carers. One of the aims of the challenge, in partnership with the Alzheimer’s Society, is to recruit and train 1 million volunteers ‘Dementia friends’ to support people with dementia by 2015. Livability is working alongside the Alzheimer’s Society help achieve this outcome by equipping members of churches and Christian organisations to become dementia friends.

Livability is part of the Dementia Action Alliance, a national membership body comprising over 900 organisations committed to transforming the quality of life of people living with dementia in the UK and the millions of people who care for them. Livability is also a member of the Civil Society and Voluntary Agencies Sub-group for the Prime Minister’s Dementia Challenge Committee.

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Love - Old Man.