People with mild or early-stage Alzheimer’s
Disease consider sacred relationships to be
at the heart of adjusting to and coping with this
disease. At their essence, sacred relationships
may be considered spiritual relationships.
Spirituality, according to Kenneth Pargament
(2009), is the sacred domain and has traditionally
been thought of as having to do with higher
powers, supernatural beings, or guiding life
philosophies. However, even seemingly ordinary
day-to-day encounters with people, places, and
objects can take on sacred significance when
viewed through a sacred lens (Pargament and
Mahoney, 2005). One may experience a sense
of awe and wonder when glimpsing a snowy
mountain peak or hearing ocean waves crash
against the shore of a sunny beach. For some,
these experiences do more than reflect the
beauty of the natural world—they represent
the presence of the divine.
In this article, we explore findings on the
importance of sacred relationships from the
perspective of twenty-eight people with mild
Alzheimer’s Disease who participated in a
mixed-methods study conducted at Baylor
College of Medicine, in collaboration with Baylor
University and Amazing Place. It was part of a
larger study on optimizing health and well-being
in people with mild Alzheimer’s and their family
members. These individuals were asked what
was most sacred to them in the context of living
with the disease. Relationships emerged as the
most predominant theme pertaining to the
sacred, including relationships with the transcendent
(God, higher power, spirit); the spiritual
community (church, synagogue, mosque,
spirituality group); significant others (family
and friends); and the self