Mental health is increasingly being recognized as an important issue in later life. This valuable book will help you examine this dimension of aging in the context of pastoral, spiritual, and cultural issues. It explores the relationship between mental health, spirituality, and religion in later life, including the search for meaning, cultural issues, spiritual issues, depression, dementia, and issues of suicide in older people. The first part of Mental Health and Spirituality in Later Life focuses on theology, ethics, and cultural issues in mental health and aging. The second part addresses issues of multidisciplinary practice, including a challenging chapter written by a woman with early onset dementia (Alzheimer's) and other chapters that present perspectives on the uses and meanings of ritual and symbolism in mental health and pastoral approaches to care.

• Foreword
• Preface
• Part 1: Theology, Culture, and Mental Health in Later Life
• Theological Perspectives on Ageing and Mental Health
• Mental Health, Culture, and Spirituality: Implications for the Effective Psychotherapeutic Care of Australia's Ageing Migrant Population
• The Defiant Power of the Human Spirit: Mental Health in Later Life
• Part 2: The Possibilities for Mental Health and Spirituality in Later Life: Implications for Practice
• Dementia and Suffering in Nursing Homes
• DementiaA Spiritual Journey Towards the Divine: A Personal View of Dementia
• Symbol Ritual and Dementia
• Listening to People with Dementia: A Pastoral Care Perspective
• Depression and Spirituality in Australian Aged Care Homes
• Suicide in Later Life
• Mental Health and Spirituality in Later Life: Pastoral Approaches
• Index
• Reference Notes Included