Demenz und Bibel : seelsorge im altenheim

Abstract

The society in developed countries is ever aging. Consequently, the proportion of the population living in retirement homes increases steadily. A central focus of pastoral counselling in retirement homes is the proclamation of the Gospel. However, many of their residents are affected by dementia. As the course of their disease progresses, their mental capacity decreases. This creates special tension for the counselling of residents of retirement homes. It moves in the tension field between counselling as proclamation of the word (Thurneysen) and focusing on dialogue as propagated by the pastoral care movement. Thus, the question arises of how the biblical message can be proclaimed to the affected people. This present research paper points out various approaches of dealing with people affected by dementia. Among these are activating approaches, such as occupational therapy, drawing or music therapy, reality orientation training, “warme zorg” (warm care) and security therapy. All of these approaches are related to the surroundings. Furthermore, approaches will be examined which influence the interaction with affected people: such as validation, person-centered care according to Tom Kitwood (2008), psychotherapy and maieutic listening. Finally, therapies will be considered which relate to the person and biography of people with dementia – such as reminiscence therapy, memory training and biography work. Moreover, the paper specifically investigates which particular features apply to small bible study groups in retirement homes. Eventually, it displays how affected people can be reached by hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting and sensing. In order to be able to stimulate the sense of hearing, one can include, for example, poems or sounds. The sense of vision is stimulated by pictures or symbols. Various flavors or foods appeal to the sense of smell. Skins and other objects activate the sense of touch. The findings gained from literature will be compared to praxis. For this purpose, various episodes will be documented using the empirical method of participating observation. All observations have been carried out in the Emil-Sräga Haus in Singen (Germany) where the author of this paper works as male nurse and counselor.