{"id":5570,"date":"2018-01-03T13:05:07","date_gmt":"2018-01-03T19:05:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/?p=5570"},"modified":"2018-01-03T13:05:07","modified_gmt":"2018-01-03T19:05:07","slug":"can-elders-help-church-members-dealing-alzheimers-disease-grief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/2018\/01\/03\/can-elders-help-church-members-dealing-alzheimers-disease-grief\/","title":{"rendered":"How can Elders Help Church Members Who are Dealing with Alzheimer’s Disease and Grief?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Don Williams\u00a0<\/strong>
\n\u201c Look on my right hand and see, for there is no one who acknowledges me; refuge has failed me. No man cares for my soul.\u201d \u2013\u2013<\/strong><\/em>Psalm 142:4<\/strong>
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\nI believe these are some of the saddest words found in the Bible. They suggest a feeling of despair and hopelessness. A person is in pain and looking for help, but he does not find it. He feels like no one cares.
\nIn my 20 years of teaching grief support classes, both in the local communities where I have lived and in Grief Support Workshops within the brotherhood, there have been church members who have echoed this sentiment. They have sustained a loss of someone <\/strong>important to them, and they have felt a lack of support and care from their congregation. I know <\/strong>that many do care<\/strong>\u2026 they simply do not know what to do. Someone has well said, \u201cKnowledge is power.\u201d Church members could attend grief classes or read grief material to try and understand what goes on in the minds and hearts of those who lose a loved one.
\nBut what happens if the person is still living<\/strong>, but is acting as if they are dead<\/strong>? What if, on the outside, they seem to be the same person they have always been, but the family is distressed because their loved one has developed Alzheimer\u2019s (a form of dementia)?
\nAgain, \u201cKnowledge is power.\u201d What is dementia?<\/strong> It is the permanent<\/strong> loss of multiple intellectual functions. It normally shows itself in a person having a loss of memory, confusion, problems with speech and understanding, changes in personality and behavior, and an increased reliance on others for the activities of daily living. Alzheimer\u2019s disease is the most common form of dementia, accounting for 60-70% of all cases. It is a disease that often attacks a person\u2019s ability to remember things that just happened, in a matter of seconds or minutes. Long-term memory is often the last thing to leave an Alzheimer\u2019s patient\u2026thus, it is sometimes referred to as \u201cOld-Timer\u2019s Disease.\u201d The average length that a person can have this illness (before death) is 8 – 10 years. There are various stages, with a person progressing to the point where they no longer can eat, do not know what to do, or cannot tell who someone is.
\nConsider These Facts:<\/strong><\/p>\n