From the Diocese of North Carolina’s newsletter, Please Note:
As of 2016, more than 44 million people worldwide are living with some form of dementia, and those numbers are only expected to increase in the coming years. While dementia and Alzheimer’s, the most common form of dementia, can be isolating for both sufferers and caretakers, the Rev. Colette Bachand-Wood, Episcopal priest, dementia care specialist and author of Do This, Remembering Me, proposes that the Church can be a bridge to connection, because we already have everything we need, and they are tools we already use.
Banchand-Wood presented some of what she’s learned in her years of working with those affected by dementia at the annual Retired Clergy Luncheon on Oct. 24. She sat down afterward with the Rt. Rev. Anne Hodges-Copple to discuss how ministering to those dealing with Alzheimer’s and dementia presents a special opportunity for us all.
Matthew Townsend is the former news editor of The Living Church and former editor of the Anglican Journal. He lives in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.