COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Perhaps it was the afternoon sun casting purple, blue and yellow hues
through stained glassMaybe it was the upbeat tunes from Rabbi Cary Kozberg’s guitar.Whateverthe
inspiration, spirits were among worshippers at the Kabbalat Shabbatservice tailored to residents with
Alzheimer’s disease and other formsof dementia at the Wexner Heritage House long-term care center.Aman
raised a hand and rocked to and fro in his wheelchair. One woman,her legs covered by a blue-and-white
Star of David blanket, smiled asshe sang along. Another tasted the challah and grape juice and joked,
"Idrink a little wine and I’m drunk!""Today was a good day,"Kozberg said after the
service as he moved through the room addressingeach worshipper by name, grabbing hands and patting
shoulders.Whilesome might argue that spiritual care is lost on people with dementia,Kozberg says just
the opposite is true. After more than two decadesworking in the field, he insists: "People with
dementia do not losetheir spirituality. They do not lose it."In fact, he said, "a lotof times
dementia takes the intellectual filter, and when it’scompromised, the spirit really comes out and people
will become so muchmore human and alive."The rabbi directs spiritual-care efforts atthe Wexner
Heritage Village campus, which includes Heritage House. Hebegan what he thought would be a one-year
stint in 1989 and has sincefound that the position has given him a chance to be the kind of rabbihe
wants to be — one who works with people who are disenfranchised. Hehas likened dementia patients to the
tablets shattered by Moses — brokenbut still sacred."Even with the loss of memory and
executivefunctioning and reasoning ability, people can still experience joy, theycan still experience
love, they can still experience respect, they canstill relate to people," he said.A 2012 report by
the Alzheimer’sAssociation estimated that 230,000 Ohioans age 65 or older hadAlzheimer’s disease, the
most common form of dementia, in 2010 and that250,000 will have the disease in 2025. Of the state’s
roughly 191,000nursing-home residents in 2009, 27 percent had very mild or mildcognitive impairment and
42 percent had moderate or severe impairment,the report says.Kozberg’s work helps patients strengthen
the tiesthey have to their former religious lives, said Nancy Pawliger, whose104-year-old "vibrant,
feisty" mother is a Heritage House resident.While her mother has not been diagnosed with dementia —
she has "areasof confusion" — Pawlinger sees how the weekly songs and prayers takeresidents
back to reassuring times from their lives.She recallsKozberg taking a Torah scroll to a seemingly
unresponsive man on astretcher and seeing the man light up "because someone accepted him as aperson
who was still alive."Heritage House is among a number offaith-based long-term care centers in
central Ohio that address thespiritual needs of patients with dementia. Most use traditional musicand
Scripture to tap into residents’ long-term memories.Forexample, at Westminster-Thurber Community, a
Presbyterian center,chaplain Mark Arni uses colorful felt characters for Bible study andplays common
hymns, such as Amazing Grace and How Great Thou Art, on thepiano.And at Mother Angeline McCrory Manor, a
Catholiccommunity, Sister Eileen Rosinski said Catholic residents often respondinstinctively to hymns,
rosary prayers or the dispensation of theEucharist — as well as nuns in traditional habits.Outside
suchplaces, congregations are often more-focused on the needs of youngfamilies than on ministering to
the elderly, Kozberg said. It’simportant to "embrace our helplessness" and admit that we don’t
yet havea solution for dementia, he said."Even though we can’t cure it,we can’t fix it, it doesn’t
mean we can’t do anything. They have needsthat all of us have, and they can be responded
to."___Information from: The Columbus Dispatch, http://www.dispatch.comCopyright 2013 The
Associated Press.