Spirituality and dementia

A literature review highlighted the importance of understanding the subjective experience of spirituality and dementia. Two research aims were identified: to build an understanding of how older people's experience of spirituality, religion or faith is affected by having dementia and to understand how the spiritual aspects of their lives affect the experience of dementia.
Dalby, P., Sperlinger, D. J., & Boddington, S. (2012). The lived experience of spirituality and dementia in older people living with mild to moderate dementia. Dementia, 11(1), 75–94.

This paper presents innovative practice in the area of interdisciplinary collaboration between pastoral care and music therapy professionals to meet the spiritual needs of people with dementia in a hospital environment. Our qualitative research identified the following themes to guide future endeavours in this area: Music has the capacity to facilitate spiritual expression; music therapy contributes to validating the individuality of the person with dementia; collaborative work between music therapy and pastoral care is worthy of further exploration. This study is one of few to address the potential for combining pastoral care and music therapy in the care of people with dementia.
Connolly, L., & Moss, H. (2021). Music, spirituality and dementia: Exploring joint working between pastoral care professionals and music therapists to improve person-centred care for people with dementia (Innovative Practice). Dementia, 20(1), 373–380.

Meaningful Ageing Australia have this guide available for purchase through their website alongside other resources.

Available from HammondCare. The research-based resource was developed through extensive and ongoing consultation with families, carers and people living with dementia. This included feedback on content, format and even the materials used to produce the resources.