OTTAWA—An Ottawa man is on a mission to make Canadian places of worship more welcoming to the hundreds of thousands of Canadians who suffer from dementia.
With January being Alzheimer Awareness Month in Canada, Matthew Dineen hopes a Jan. 26 event and Mass in Ottawa will help Canadian places of worship do more to reach out to those with dementia, letting them know they are a vital part of their church community.
Dineen, of Dementia Advocacy Canada, says places of worship and Canadian society need to do more to meet the needs of Canadians with dementia so they are not isolated.
While dementia sufferers may have a failing body, their soul and spiritual side can benefit from staying connected to their places of worship, he said.
“People with dementia are still capable of responding to God,” he said.
Dineen’s advocacy comes from personal experience. His wife Lisa was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia at the age of 43 in 2013 and was subsequently placed in long-term care.
Since then he has committed himself to pushing for societal changes to make life easier for Canadians with dementia. “I have been busy preparing guidelines as part of my Dementia Advocacy Canada work on how to make places of worship in Canada more dementia-friendly and inclusive.”
He added that Canada can learn a lot from what is happening in other parts of world, specifically in the United Kingdom and Scotland.
“There they have made a societal effort to address the needs of people with dementia. They set lofty goals and that has been embraced in their culture,” he said in an interview with Canadian Catholic News.
A U.K. -based organization called Livability (https://livability.org.uk/) has created a guide for churches to be more inclusive and welcoming. It’s been instrumental in Dineen’s efforts to create such a tool for Canada.
One of Dineen’s consultants on making churches more dementia-friendly is Lynda Everman, a key member within the USAgainstAlzheimer’s community and the founder of the ClergyAgainstAlzheimer’s network. Part of Everman’s ministry is making vestments for clergy, and her first international stole will be blessed and presented at the Mass at St. John the Apostle Church in Ottawa.
“I take great pride in initiating work that will allow greater opportunity for those impacted by dementia to continue to be able to practise and live out their faith here in Canada,” Dineen said.
“I remain hopeful that my work through Dementia Advocacy Canada will not only be used by the bishops of Canada, but with other faith traditions as well.”
