Marty Richards, a geriatric social worker in Port Townsend, Wash., who teaches at the University of Washington School of Social Work, has worked with patients, families and institutions to develop appropriate and meaningful forms of spiritual expression for people with dementia.

Clinical psychologist Cordula Dick-Muehlke works for the University of California’s Institute for Memory Impairments and Neurological Disorders and has more than 20 years’ experience in the field. She lectures widely on spirituality, elder care and dementia.

Pamala Kennedy is co-author with her husband, Richard, of Suffering in Slow Motion: Help for A Long Journey Through Dementia and Other Terminal Illnesses (Regal Books, 2003). Richard, pastor of a nondenominational church, was diagnosed with fronto-temporal dementia in 1997.

Deborah Shouse is the Kansas City area author of the 2006 book Love in the Land of Dementia: Finding Hope in the Caregiver’s Journey. Shouse’s mother had Alzheimer’s. Shouse and Ron Zoglin are The Creativity Connection‘s motivational consultants.

Rabbi Cary Kozberg, director of spiritual care at Wexner Heritage Village in Columbus, Ohio, has written about the unique, trusting relationship with God that an Alzheimer’s patient can develop. He speaks widely about Alzheimer’s.

Shepherd’s Centers of America is an interfaith network of community-based groups in 21 states caring for older adults. Headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, the organization was begun by the Rev. Elbert C. Cole, whose wife had dementia for 17 years before she died.

Calvin College psychology professor Glenn Weaver, whose mother died of Alzheimer’s dementia, has studied the spirituality of Alzheimer’s patients.

University of Alabama psychology professor Martha Crowther researches the role of spirituality across the life cycle. She is particularly interested in spirituality and health in older African-Americans.

Alexander P. Auchus is a neurologist at the University of Mississippi Medical Center with research interests in Alzheimer’s in non-Caucasians.