ABSTRACT
Psychiatrists have had problems with spiritual aspects of care. The spiritual needs of those with dementia are not only important in institutional care. In 2000 the Christian Council on Ageing Dementia Group and Faith in Elderly People drew together much work on meeting the spiritual needs of those with dementia into a set of guidelines for care staff. Tom Kitwood’s seminal work on person-centred care for those with dementia has also altered many misperceptions of the needs of people with dementia. Malcolm Goldsmith, during his time at Stirling, carried out research into communication with those with dementia, published as Hearing the Voice of People with Dementia. A man with advanced dementia was nursed in a special hospital unit for those with challenging behaviour. Spiritual aspects of dementia include the meeting of spiritual needs, but it is also essential to recognise the need in all humans for a ‘sacred space’ and the help needed to preserve or recreate such a space.
