Launch of a Jewish-Christian Faith-Based Support Group for those Experiencing Cognitive and Mental Health Challenges: Initial Experience and Setting Goals for Future Ministry
William Buxton, MD, FANA, FAANEM, Duke Divinity School, Durham, NC, and Pacific Neuroscience Institute, Santa Monica, CA
In 2019 our interdisciplinary neuroscience institute began to partner with a local senior day center to offer a spirituality-focused support group for individuals experiencing cognitive decline and their caregivers, based on a model the day center had implemented a few years prior. The group attempts to build identity, hope, and purpose for those experiencing cognitive challenges through discussions of shared experiences around a specific focus each week, with a broad range of topics, including family experiences, holidays and other celebrations, nature, and recreational topics such as music and sports. The focus on community building and support lies at its core. That particular model was intentionally nonsectarian and did not include material or reflections from faith groups. We have found a trend towards increases in quality of life measures among participants, as presented at the 2022 American Academy of Neurology meeting (Buxton et al, 2022).
As a seminary student and neurologist, I have launched a similar group, utilizing Jewish-Christian teachings and resources to address challenges facing those experiencing cognitive challenges. I have developed a curriculum addressing such topics as lament, finding purpose, claiming identity, and ways to remain engaged in ministry despite loss of some abilities. I have based our lessons on scriptural passages and the writings of individuals addressing the interface of illness and theology, including Dr. Warren Kinghorn, Professor John Swinton, and Professor Amy Jill Levine. I launched the weekly meetings in February, 2023, and we have continued them to date.
Over time a psychiatrist in our practice asked me to include older individuals facing mental health challenges as well. We are a fairly even mix between Christian and Jewish, and I am humbled to see the enthusiasm with which each group seeks to learn about the other. After a combined Passover/Maundy Thursday lesson, Jewish members asked for an Easter lesson, and one spent Easter in the garden of his synagogue in prayer and reflection on the Passion and Easter. Members admit to feeling a renewed sense of purpose and calling, with one member who had been considering ending her life through California’s physician-assisted suicide program has now begun translating poetry written by Jewish individuals in hiding in Poland during World War II. At the request of participants, lessons have begun to include more specifically religious topics, such as studies of Biblical figures as well as prayer and other spiritual practices. There is no intent to proselytize.
Though there is a brief printed lesson with a scriptural passage or other devotional reading, as well as reflection questions each week, most of the dialogue during meetings is among members, and they have become a strong source of support for one another, sharing wisdom and encouragement. I am also witnessing what John Swinton and others have called “rementing” (Swinton, J. Dementia: Living in the Memories of God. London: SCM Press, 2012) as individuals become sharper and more engaged. Some have joined a singalong musical group for seniors at a local church that meets after our meetings, with one recently widowed participant joining that program after her first meeting after husband’s death.
I am humbled and excited by the gift this group has become to all involved. It is my strong belief that such groups have power to instill a sense of peace and purpose to individuals marginalized in our cognitively- and productivity-oriented society. For next steps, I hope to develop and publish a curriculum and collection of lessons and discussion points. Outcomes research may be limited as I have found surveys are not practical for this population. Another potential next step would be submitting an academic paper outlining the justification and need for such groups and descriptive and anecdotal stories of participants’ newfound sense of peace and purpose, as well as specific endeavors they are pursuing. The opportunity to give talks at meetings and to congregations, as well as conversations with others pursuing similar ministries, also holds potential for the spread and optimization of such programs.
As a seminary student and neurologist, I have launched a similar group, utilizing Jewish-Christian teachings and resources to address challenges facing those experiencing cognitive challenges. I have developed a curriculum addressing such topics as lament, finding purpose, claiming identity, and ways to remain engaged in ministry despite loss of some abilities. I have based our lessons on scriptural passages and the writings of individuals addressing the interface of illness and theology, including Dr. Warren Kinghorn, Professor John Swinton, and Professor Amy Jill Levine. I launched the weekly meetings in February, 2023, and we have continued them to date.
Over time a psychiatrist in our practice asked me to include older individuals facing mental health challenges as well. We are a fairly even mix between Christian and Jewish, and I am humbled to see the enthusiasm with which each group seeks to learn about the other. After a combined Passover/Maundy Thursday lesson, Jewish members asked for an Easter lesson, and one spent Easter in the garden of his synagogue in prayer and reflection on the Passion and Easter. Members admit to feeling a renewed sense of purpose and calling, with one member who had been considering ending her life through California’s physician-assisted suicide program has now begun translating poetry written by Jewish individuals in hiding in Poland during World War II. At the request of participants, lessons have begun to include more specifically religious topics, such as studies of Biblical figures as well as prayer and other spiritual practices. There is no intent to proselytize.
Though there is a brief printed lesson with a scriptural passage or other devotional reading, as well as reflection questions each week, most of the dialogue during meetings is among members, and they have become a strong source of support for one another, sharing wisdom and encouragement. I am also witnessing what John Swinton and others have called “rementing” (Swinton, J. Dementia: Living in the Memories of God. London: SCM Press, 2012) as individuals become sharper and more engaged. Some have joined a singalong musical group for seniors at a local church that meets after our meetings, with one recently widowed participant joining that program after her first meeting after husband’s death.
I am humbled and excited by the gift this group has become to all involved. It is my strong belief that such groups have power to instill a sense of peace and purpose to individuals marginalized in our cognitively- and productivity-oriented society. For next steps, I hope to develop and publish a curriculum and collection of lessons and discussion points. Outcomes research may be limited as I have found surveys are not practical for this population. Another potential next step would be submitting an academic paper outlining the justification and need for such groups and descriptive and anecdotal stories of participants’ newfound sense of peace and purpose, as well as specific endeavors they are pursuing. The opportunity to give talks at meetings and to congregations, as well as conversations with others pursuing similar ministries, also holds potential for the spread and optimization of such programs.