Designing Worship Services to Support African-American Persons Living with Dementia

Epps, Fayron; Choe, Jenny; Alexander, Karah; Brewster, Glenna

doi:10.1007/s10943-020-00993-x

Original Paper
Published: 04 February 2020

Designing Worship Services to Support African-American Persons Living with Dementia

Fayron Epps ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-4332-4078¹,
Jenny Choe¹,
Karah Alexander¹ &
Glenna Brewster¹

Journal of Religion and Health volume 59, pages 2163–2176 (2020)Cite this article

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Abstract

The church has played an integral role in the African-American community for a number of years. With the growth in population of African-American older adults living with dementia, it is critical for the church to understand how they can support these individuals in continuing their engagement in meaningful religious activities. The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore how to design or modify worship services to support African-Americans living with dementia. Interviews were conducted with church leaders, current and former caregivers, and service providers (n = 12). Analysis of their responses revealed worship services should include components in relation to the following categories: “simplicity,” “support,” “imagery and sound,” and “music.” Although participants held different views on the delivery of worship services for persons living with dementia, interview results provided key elements on how worship services can be meaningful and supportive of African-Americans living with dementia.

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge participants of Phase 1.

Funding

This work is supported by the Alzheimer’s Association Research Grant‐Diversity (AARG‐D‐18‐56229) and Emory Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center Pilot Award (P50 AG025688).

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Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Emory University, 1520 Clifton Road, Office 238, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA
Fayron Epps, Jenny Choe, Karah Alexander & Glenna Brewster

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Fayron Epps
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Jenny Choe
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Karah Alexander
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Glenna Brewster
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Correspondence to Fayron Epps.

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Authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institution or practice at which the studies were conducted. Georgia State University Institutional Review Board reviewed and approved this study (IRB# H18283).

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Epps, F., Choe, J., Alexander, K. et al. Designing Worship Services to Support African-American Persons Living with Dementia. J Relig Health 59, 2163–2176 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-020-00993-x

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Published: 04 February 2020
Issue Date: August 2020
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-020-00993-x

Keywords

Church
Alzheimer’s disease
Cognitive impairment
Religion
Liturgy