Topic: Our Community of Process and Practice

Presenters: Jay McDaniel and Jill Thompson

Jill Thompson, the Director of Programs for the Alzheimer’s Association Arkansas Chapter, oversees community educator and support group volunteers who provide vital education and support throughout the Arkansas community. Prior to her role at the Alzheimer’s Association, Jill worked for a non-profit in Houston, TX, providing dementia care consultation and community education throughout the Houston area. Jill is also a licensed physical therapist and worked with the geriatric population for over 20 years in that capacity. Jill will talk about the various kinds of volunteer work people do in memory care units, what she knows about music and Alzheimer’s, and she will share the vision of the national Alzheimer’s association. 

Jill has a Bachelor’s degree from Hendrix College and a Master’s degree in Physical Therapy from the University of Central Arkansas.

She will be joined by Jay McDaniel, whose own singalong ministry in memory care centers was featured in the publication of the Arkansas state chapter. Sharing from his own music ministry, Jay McDaniel will say why the issue is so important for him, and he’ll discuss ideas concerning God’s presence in the lives of people with dementia and their families. He’ll offer reflections in a process vein on understanding the self as a here-and-now event, not reducible to memory or cognitive functions; the presence of God in each human life regardless of their condition, and the vision of a beloved community that is all-age-friendly and all-condition-friendly. He’ll touch on the expanded notion of “family” in Jesus’ ministry that can be part of our own, saying that I feel my friends with dementia are indeed family to me, as are their families, and I to them. For perspective, he’ll also draw upon Whitehead’s idea that life includes “the dancing fairies and Christ nailed on the cross” and how a well-lived life entails openness to both sides, in a spirit of love, honesty, and hope. Additionally, he’ll discuss a process approach to life after death, where no condition in life on earth is necessarily the “last” condition. And, of course, he’ll tell stories and talk about the role of music in human life from a process perspective: Music is what feelings sound like; it opens up treasures of the heart, regardless of your condition.

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