Implicit and Explicit Memory: Implications for the Pastoral Care of Persons with Dementia

Providing spiritual care for persons with dementia is often challenging owing to the high reliance on explicit, language-based, declarative memory in typical religious organizations. Pastoral care providers can break through this barrier of memory, in part, by a thoughtful and deliberate use of techniques related to implicit memory. This involves using another form of memory that is primarily unconscious, diffused, symbolic, affective and not language-based. The article provides several suggestions of how to reach the implicit memory of persons with dementia, thereby building relationships with them, and providing effective pastoral care. (C) 2007 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.