Scottish Catholic Observer

Hosted by the Archdiocese of Glasgow Arts Project (AGAP) as part of their annual Lentfest series, participants gathered at Our Lady and St George’s Church in Penilee on Saturday March 24, where they heard from a number of guest speakers and other participants, who discussed the importance of Faith within a person’s journey with dementia.

Speakers also looked into the role of the Church in supporting the physical, psychological, and spiritual wellbeing of people living with dementia, as well as their families and carers. Those present had the opportunity to celebrate Mass at 9.30am in the church, giving them the opportunity to begin the day’s events in a time of prayer.

Following the Mass, teas and coffees were available while people had the opportunity to explore some of the stalls that had been set up, including AGAP, Alzheimer Scotland, Michael White of Screen Memories, and Playlist for Life.

The group joined in an opening prayer, before hearing from the first of a series of guest speakers, including Dr Adrian Treloar who authored Dementia: Hope on a Difficult Journey. They then enjoyed a screening of the short film J Costello by filmmakers Liam Hollywood and David Murphy.

After a break, Simon McDermott, the ‘Song-a-Minute Man’ was next to speak to the audience, where he discussed his father’s journey with Dementia, as well as his new book regarding his dad’s life. Mr McDermott’s talk was followed by CEO of Playlist for Life, Sarah Metcalf.

Anne O’Donnell, the community activities organiser for Alzheimer Scotland, who arranged the event, said: “We have a tendency to focus on medical interventions for people with an illness but in fact the illness is about the profound change in a person’s life and their journey towards God.

“Our aim is that the Church community can support a person to stay socially connected with an aspect of their life which would be familiar to them and to continue to engage with the community by attending Church, encouraging prayer which may have to be adapted to suit the need of a person with dementia and to be visited on a regular basis by Church members.

“I wanted to offer my thanks to everyone who gave up their precious Saturday (or weekend for some) to support the event and provide their knowledge and expertise in whatever format it was. Our attendance numbers may have been small but hopefully those that did attend gained some support of knowledge that would be beneficial in some way or other. My special thanks to Stephen [Callaghan] at AGAP who believed in the project from day one and allowing us to hijack his Lentfest programme to include dementia as a subject matter.”

Ms O’Donnell referred to AGAP through showman PT Barnum, who famously said: “The noblest art is that of making others happy.”