Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Spirituality, Faith, And Mild Alzheimer's Disease, Jocelyn Shealy Mcgee, Dennis R. Myers, Holly Carlson, Angela E. Pool-Funai, Paul A. Barclay

Sociology Faculty Publications

There is some evidence for a positive association between spirituality, cognitive, and behavioral functioning in people with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). However, to our knowledge there is no published data to date that provides an explanatory model for these findings. Twenty-eight individuals with mild AD received in-depth interviews and measures of cognitive, behavioral, emotional, and spiritual functioning to gain insight into this question in this mixed methods study. Findings revealed that people with mild AD can actively engage in meaningful discussion about how spirituality influences their experience of living with AD; that they remain deeply devoted to a relationship with the …