Seelsorge für Menschen mit Demenz
Praktisch-theologische Perspektiven im Kontext von spiritueller Begleitung
Stefan Altmeyer, Christian Bauer, Kristian Fechtner, Thomas Klie, Helga Kohler-Spiegel, Benedikt Kranemann, Isabelle Noth, Lukas Stuck, Birgit Weyel
What can Christian pastoral care contribute to looking after people who have dementia? Conversation as a central medium has limitations for people who have advanced dementia. However, current interdisciplinary discussions on attending to people with dementia are concerned not only with communicative concepts, but are often also about working with images of dementia. Commonly used inadequate images of dementia that only refer to a negative course of the condition are increasingly being called into question. Pastoral care can make an important contribution to spiritual guidance if it reflects on life theologically. Alongside theoretical discussions of current dementia-related research in the fields of medicine, psychology and theology, this volume offers concrete suggestions and models for pastoral care workers attending to people with dementia. Based on the example of one institution, it shows what specialized pastoral care for people with dementia can achieve at the practical level.
