Learn the importance of faith and spirituality throughout the journey of Dementia as well as how to create a dementia friendly environment within the church.
How can the church support someone affected by Dementia? Does Dementia affect faith and spirituality? How does Dementia affect the brain and body? How does someone’s ability to communicate change with Dementia? How can someone be supported in their faith when behaviour starts to change? What is the response when someone doesn’t recognise their loved one? When might someone need further support? How can the church make changes to create a dementia-friendly environment? What are the benefit of hymns/ worship music in Dementia?
Our Dementia Awareness for the Church course will help you to answer the questions above and more.
A report in 2024, showed that 982,000 people in the UK have a form of dementia and 10 % of the UK population are caring for a loved one alongside their other responsibilities. It is therefore fair to assume that in every UK church there are members of the congregation who will either be living with, or supporting someone who is living with Dementia.
Throughout our Dementia Awareness for the Church course, you will learn If a persons’ memory, perception, communication skills or behaviour change. You will learn how individuals with Dementia can feel isolated, depressed, and withdrawn from social situations. You will learn how faith and connection with the church can play an integral part to the life of someone living with dementia and those affected. You will learn how the church can enable people to continue to feel part of their community. You will learn different activities for people to engage with and connect to others. You will learn why faith groups can help share values, create a welcoming and inclusive space, provide a service through to the end of life, challenge attitudes, and signpost to other organisations that can help. By understanding how Dementia affects the brain and body you can improve your communication with people living with Dementia, understand changes in behaviour, and learn how to create a Dementia-friendly environment within the church.
What you'll learn.
- Current statistics and prevalence of Dementia.
- How the brain is affected by Dementia.
- How memory is affected by Dementia.
- How the senses are affected by Dementia.
- How communication is affected by Dementia.
- How to improve communication and respond to signs of distress.
- Understanding faith and spirituality throughout the journey of Dementia.
- How to create a Dementia-friendly church environment.
- How to support friends, family, and caregivers to support someone in their faith.
Who is Dementia Awareness for the Church for?
Our Dementia Awareness for the Church course is for anyone within a church setting who may meet or support someone living with or affected by Dementia.
What are the learning outcomes?
By the end of the course, you will be able to…
- Learn about the different types of Dementia, what causes them, how prevalent they are and how they affect the brain and body.
- Understand how Dementia might affect the memory, the senses, and how language, communication and behaviour can be affected.
- Understand the basic diagnosis process and how this may affect family and friends.
- Understand the importance of faith and spirituality throughout the journey of Dementia.
- Understand how to support, understand, and communicate well with people with Dementia.
- Learn how to create a dementia friendly environment within the church and how to connect with community services, particularly local elderly care services to support people with Dementia in their faith.
- Download course brochure
