Spirituality in Late Dementia: 10 Ways to Comfort Your Loved One
One means of connecting as communication grows ever more challenging: through religious or spiritual practices. Faith-based practices are sometimes mistakenly abandoned at this point in caregiving because it may seem that the person won't recognize them. Or they've been overlooked in the stress of managing health and behavioral issues. But spirituality can be of enormous comfort to your loved one and therefore a powerful caregiving tool for you.
What to try:
Reading aloud from holy texts or other works of faith (Bible, Koran, etc.)
Reciting prayers
Asking a clergyperson to visit and pray
Attending services (if physically still possible)
Saying calming chants (which can also calm you!)
Singing hymns
Playing CDs of religious music
Tuning into a televised religious service
Walking (or being wheeled) around a labyrinth, church grounds, or park
Reading poetry aloud
Even someone whose language skills and social responsiveness are declining can still hear. Any practices that brought comfort in the past can have the power to do the same now.
