Dementia Inclusive Church

With the number of people living with dementia increasing every year, and with about 2 in 5 people in the UK having a friend or family member who is affected, as a society we are faced with a huge challenge. So often, people living with dementia and their carers can feel isolated from their community, and it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the challenges that dementia brings. But there is hope.

Everyone has a unique gift to bring

With a Christian world view that sees each person as a unique individual made in the image of God, a chance to support people who are living with dementia becomes not only an opportunity but a privilege.

With the belief that everyone has a unique gift to bring, churches can challenge the view that dementia compromises a person’s identity, and continue to affirm them as an individual, even as their dementia progresses.

How can we help your church?

Churches are well placed to walk alongside members of the church family who are living with and are affected by dementia, and also to provide a warm welcome and a place of belonging to those beyond the church family in the community who are living with dementia as well as those caring for them.

Workshops and training

Our practical workshops help churches and networks of churches to take their next steps towards being dementia inclusive.

After each workshop we send a resource handout which we have co-produced during the workshop, to help you on your way.

We also offer a half day follow-up workshop, to check in with your progress and to provide the opportunity for churches to check in with one another, form networks and share experiences.

What our workshops help to achieve:

• Understand what dementia is, including types of dementia and symptoms. Moving beyond the medical model, we explore how dementia can often lead to social and spiritual isolation
• Draw information and understanding from theological resources and spiritual reflection
• Change the narrative on dementia from hopeless to hope-filled, finding our identity in Christ, rather than any cognitive impairment
• Start to develop a practical action plan for your church context.

Reports, Resources and Reflections

• Developing a Dementia-Friendly Church
• Ten ways for your church to be more inclusive of people living with dementia, by Dr Jennifer Bute
• Dementia and Spirituality – we may forget but God remembers
• Dementia: from seldom heard to seen and heard
• Allotments, Community and Dementia

For more information about Dementia Inclusive Church, or to find out what steps you could take to become dementia inclusive, please contact joinin@livability.org.uk. We look forward to hearing from you.