I recently received a question on one my YouTube videos: “What is dementia friendly?”

Great question! Here’s what I mean when I label my videos as dementia-friendly hymns, dementia-friendly church, and dementia-friendly Bible study activity videos.

My goal for dementia-friendly spiritual resources is to smooth the path so that people with Alzheimer’s and other dementias may participate in familiar faith and spiritual activities for their enjoyment and benefit.

My dementia-friendly hymns are arranged specifically as sing-alongs (not performances) for people living with dementia (PLWD). To be dementia-friendly, that means the hymn arrangements are:

• Slower in tempo.
• Shorter: usually two or three verses instead of four or five.
• In a lower key, because voice pitch (especially women’s) often lowers with age.
• Without elaborate choral arrangements or orchestration. Every dementia-friendly hymn has only one or two singers and a simple piano accompaniment.
• Easy-to-read lyrics on a plain background — no moving words or pictures.
• All of these choices reduce the elements that people with dementia have to process, enabling them to more easily access their long-term memories of the songs to participate easily and fluidly. 

In the dementia-friendly church videos, I always include numerous familiar elements, such as the Lord’s Prayer, Psalm 23 (The Lord is My Shepherd), and the closing benediction (The Lord bless you and keep you…). PLWD often recognize these elements from their long-term memories and recite the words with me.  And because music is so powerful, I include a lot of hymns! Probably half of every church service is singing. 🎶

Also, in my dementia-friendly church and Bible study videos, I intentionally speak slowly to give those with cognitive challenges time to process the words. 

I try to make the dementia-friendly church and Bible study activity videos as interactive as possible, rather than a passive activity of just watching. I strongly encourage staying with your residents or loved ones during the videos, rather than turning on the TV and leaving the room! I include prompts to pause each video and discuss simple questions, to give PLWD and you a way to engage spiritual topics. Fostering engagement and participation is critical to impart dignity, stimulation, and enjoyment for PLWD.

What do you think? Do you have other ideas for dementia-friendly spiritual care? I’d love to hear them in the comments below.

Peace be with you,

Photo by Johannes Plenio on Unsplash