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Publications from
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Latest addition:

Working with Older People
A resource directory for Churches
Second edition 2006

Working with Older PeoplePublished in collaboration with MHA Care Group

This groundbreaking Directory was first published by the Leveson Centre in collaboration with MHA Care Group in 2004 and is now available in a second edition both in hard copy and on the web. It brought together for the first time details of over 100 church-related organisations working with older people. Its publication was an important step towards challenging many of the prevalent attitudes both in society and church to age and ageing.

The Directory includes national church-related organisations; innovative local organisations and projects in individual churches; diocesan and similar church bodies with a particular interest in ageing issues and individuals working in this area. An appendix lists some secular bodies carrying out work of relevance to the spiritual needs of older people.

We hope that the Directory will help churches both nationally and locally to value and affirm this work and to begin to see older people as an enormous spiritual, political and human resource for mission and ministry. It should also prevent unnecessary duplication by ensuring that people engaged in similar work are aware of each other's involvement and can share experiences together.

Working with Older People - A resource directory for Churches is published in three forms:

  • In plastic wallet £7.50 inc postage - ORDER NOW
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    in Acrobat PDF format (478 KB) - download now (free)
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    in Acrobat PDF format (1.3 MB) - replacement sheets and instructions to update your existing first edition directory - download now (free)

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Understanding the Needs of Older People
Alison M Johnson and Helen Hickman Morris, 2001

Understanding the Needs of Older PeopleThe first paper, written by the Centre Consultant and delivered at the Leveson Centre on 9 June 1999 outlines a framework within which we might understand the needs of older people. It covers the demographic background and its implications for an ageing population. It looks at government legislation in the nineties and concludes with a section on positive ageing, quoting John Wesley who wrote at the age of 83 'I am a wonder to myself. I am never tired either with writing, preaching or travelling.'

The complementary paper, written by Helen Hickman Morris and delivered at the Leveson Centre on 15 June 2000 is an insightful and reflective piece about her experience of being old. She considers her beliefs, her problems at this stage of her life and the diminishments she inevitably has suffered. She concludes with a list of her spiritual needs which she believes apply at any stage of life but particularly in old age.

Understanding the Needs of Older People
Alison M Johnson & Helen Hickman Morris, 2001
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Valuing Age: an Agenda for Society and the Church
Mark Santer, Bishop of Birmingham
First Leveson Lecture, 2001

Valuing Age: an Agenda for Society and the ChurchThis is the text of the first Leveson lecture given by the then Bishop of Birmingham on 31 January 2001 and marking the formal launch of the Leveson Centre. Mark Santer reflects on the place of older people in society and our attitudes towards them, offers a contribution to the debate on the future funding of long term care and encourages us to set an agenda for valuing age both in society and in the church. A postscript written by the Centre's Director and Consultant sets out some of its aims and expectations.

Valuing age? An agenda for Society and the Church
Mark Santer, first Leveson Lecture, 2001
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Committed to the Asylum?
The long term Care of Older People
Malcolm Johnson
Second Leveson Lecture, 2002

Committed to the Asylum? The second Leveson lecture was given by Professor Malcolm Johnson, Director of the International Institute on Health and Ageing, University of Bristol, on 24 April 2002. He responds to the attack on institutional care of frail and vulnerable older people and the prevalent view that we should get rid of care homes. He argues that the case for abandoning institutional care is poorly thought out and against the evidence. The church in his view has a particular role to play that arises from its history of providing sanctuary, love and support. He argues that we should rediscover care homes as places of asylum for older people worn down by the problems of living on their own in the community. Professor Roger Clough who was present at the lecture adds a thoughtful postscript to the debate.

Committed to the asylum?
The long term care of older people
Malcolm Johnson, second Leveson Lecture, 2002
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A Good Death
Papers presented at a Leveson Seminar, published 2003.

A Good DeathThe question of what we mean by "good" in the context of the end of our lives underlay this research symposium. Some papers reflect philosophical and social scientific research into what is the ultimate question for us all, while others come from a personal perspective of people anticipating their own death or accompanying others as they experience death.

This collection of papers comes from Kenneth Howse (Centre for Policy on Ageing), Dame Rachel Waterhouse (a governor of this Foundation), Brian Greet (former hospice chaplain), Beatrice Godwin (social worker and trainer with expertise in dementia), Barry Clark (hospital chaplain, reflecting on the role of the medical profession) and Leonie Kellaher (principal researcher, London Metropolitan University, on grief and graves).

Often humorous, always thoughtful, the papers lead the reader from an almost-forgotten tradition - the achievement of "a good death" - to some cutting-edge reflection on how we handle the very end of life.

A Good Death
papers presented at a Leveson Seminar, published 2003.
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The Policy Challenges of Population Ageing
Kenneth Howse, Research Fellow, Institute of Ageing, Oxford, 2003.
Leveson Paper 5

What are the implications of an ageing population?

  • Will the costs of supporting increasing numbers of older people become impossibly burdensome, or has this threat been massively exaggerated?
  • Is there really a pensions crisis?
  • Do we need to raise the retirement age?
  • Must we have tighter controls over health and social care expenditure on elderly people or do we have a 'big enough pot' which we only need to share more equitably between the generations?
  • What can older people rightly expect from society?
  • How far should their care fall upon members of their families?
  • In broader terms, where should the balance lie between the generations in terms of paying taxes and receiving benefits?

The Policy Challenges of Population Ageing In this paper Kenneth Howse draws on a wide range of academic research to explore these contested issues. He examines in considerable detail the various projections which have been made and demonstrates the assumptions and value judgements that lie behind them. The key questions are questions of justice which take the reader beyond economics into ethics and political commitment.

This is essential reading for anyone who needs to understand the implications of an ageing population for policy making.

Read review of paper 5

The Policy Challenges of Population Ageing
Kenneth Howse, 2003. Leveson Paper 5
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Dementia: Improving Quality of Life.
Papers presented at a Leveson seminar
Leveson Paper 6

Dementia: Improving Quality of Life. This collection of papers should be of interest to anyone caring for older people living with dementia, especially if they are concerned about their quality of life.

Three of the papers were presented at a Leveson Centre seminar held on 25 February 2003. In the first Kate Read, Director of Dementia Plus, gives an overview of the nature of dementia, the ways it manifests itself and in particular looks at how an understanding of the person can make a difference to the quality of care. Jill Phillips, who until recently was home manager of one of MHA Care Groups' specialist home for people living with dementia, follows this with practical hands-on examples of this approach.

Margaret Anne Tibbs' paper is based on the research she carried out at MHA Care Group as part of a Bradford Dementia Group team which resulted in the report A special Kind of Care. In it she considers the important issue of communication with people with dementia and explores ways in which faith survives or fails to survive under this assault on the self.

An additional paper written by Alison Johnson, the Centre Consultant, paints a picture of a care home where residents, staff, relatives and members of the wider community together live life to the full. They come to the beginning of each day with eager anticipation and to the end of the day with a sense of achievement and satisfaction. The publication concludes with a bibliography suggesting further reading in the field of dementia and spirituality.

Dementia: Improving Quality of Life
Papers presented at a Leveson seminar - Leveson Paper 6
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Older People, Faith and Dementia
Twenty-four practical talks for use in care homes
 Leveson Paper 7

Older People, Faith and Dementiaby Chris Crosskey

Are you involved in leading worship in care homes? Do you find it difficult when you are aware that many of those to whom you are speaking are living with dementia? If so, this new publication from the Leveson Centre in partnership with Church Army is for you.

The author Chris Crosskey, a Church Army evangelist, is also a qualified social worker who has for some time been trying out different ideas for worship in order to discover those things that work well and seem to connect with people living with dementia.

This booklet offers outlines for twenty-four short talks on a variety of themes together with appropriate bible readings and prayers. Also included with each talk are five helpful communication tips for anyone involved in work with people living with dementia.

Older People, Faith and Dementia is published by the Leveson Centre in partnership with Church Army.

Older People, Faith and Dementia
Twenty-four practical talks for use in care homes by Chris Crosskey - Leveson Paper 7
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Seeing the Person beyond the Dementia
Papers presented at a Leveson Seminar
Leveson Paper Number Eight

Seeing the Person beyond the DementiaJohn Killick draws on his work at the Stirling Dementia Services Development Centre to show how it is possible to establish and maintain meaningful relationships with people living with dementia. He illustrates this with moving poems from people whom he has interviewed.

Gaynor Hammond looks at the role of reminiscence in helping older people with dementia retain their personhood. She describes how Faith in Elderly People Leeds developed the idea of the Memory Box which contains people's personal mementos and helps them to retain their identity.

Sally Knocker examines the needs of older people with dementia suggesting that time, attention, human contact, conversation, a friendly smile are some of the most important gifts we can offer. She looks at the work of Tom Kitwood in this area and concludes that this should be an important ministry for churches.

Read review of paper 8

Seeing the Person beyond the Dementia
Papers presented at a Leveson Seminar
Leveson Paper Number Eight
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Is Religion the Friend of Ageing?
Peter G Coleman
Professor of Psychogerontology, University of Southampton
Leveson Paper Number Nine

Is Religion the Friend of Ageing?This is the text of the Third Leveson Lecture in which Peter Coleman writes from the perspective of a psychologist and bemoans the failure of psychology as a discipline to take religion seriously. In traditional societies religion respects older people and gives them a particular role in life as the transmitters of religious values to the young. Nowhere was this more obvious or more effective than in the former Soviet Union where the grandparent generation kept the Christian faith alive against severe State opposition. In the West today, by contrast, religious structures are fast loosing their significance and older people can feel abandoned by the faith communities which nurtured them. There are issues here that the churches need to face. The publication concludes with responses from Albert Jewell, Rob, Merchant, Janet Parker and James Woodward.

Read review of paper 9

Is Religion the Friend of Ageing?
Peter G Coleman - Leveson Paper Number Nine
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Journeying through Old Age and Illness
Leo E Missinne WP
Professor of Gerontology, University of Nebraska
Leveson Paper Number Ten

Journeying through Old Age and IllnessLeo Missinne argues that suffering is a part of all our lives and that we need to find ways of interpreting it positively. This becomes increasingly important as we grow older and are more likely to encounter not only physical but also psychological and spiritual suffering through waning powers and loss of many things we thought were important to our well-being. It is crucial at such times to have around us people who are prepared to journey with us through old age and illness, and who have some understanding of how best to do so.

Read review of paper 10

Journeying through Old Age and Illness
Leo E Missinne WP - Leveson Paper Number Ten
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The Experience of Ageing:
a challenge to Christian belief
Helen Oppenheimer,
Fourth Leveson Lecture, 2005.

The Experience of Ageing: Helen Oppenheimer, the distinguished Christian ethicist, reflects on the experience of ageing and the challenge it presents to Christians. She emphasises that the experience of ageing is vastly different for different people. Some grow old gracefully and are full of wisdom, contented in themselves and a joy to others, with the worst ravages of physical and mental deterioration passing them by. For others old age is a constant struggle where the sense of loss is overwhelming. We are not dealing truthfully with old age if we fail to see both sides of this picture.

For Christians, however, the very disparity between different people's experience is a challenge. Why the apparent injustice? Why are older people handed out the pleasures and trials of ageing in such unequal measure? Helen Oppenheimer warns against arriving too easily at glib solutions but draws comfort in the end from Christ's Passion, the assurance that whatever pains life brings to us have already been experienced by God in Christ, who stands beside us in our human struggle.

The Experience of Ageing: a challenge to Christian belief
Helen Oppenheimer, fourth Leveson Lecture, 2005. -
Leveson Paper Number Eleven
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Palliative Care for People with Dementia
Katherine Froggatt, Adrian Treloar,
Margaret Goodall, Leslie Dinning.
Leveson Paper Number Twelve

Palliative Care for People with DementiaThis publication brings together four papers based on presentations at a Leveson Seminar on palliative care for people with dementia. The authors offer a wealth of insights from their differing perspectives and professional expertise to enable us to begin grappling with the issues.

Katherine Froggatt explores the difficulties involved in applying the concept of palliative care or end-of-life care to people living with dementia, who may have limited awareness of what is happening and for whom the dying process may extend over several years.

Adrian Treloar, a consultant in old age psychiatry, considers the option of continuing to care for a person with dementia at home until the end. He offers case studies where it has been done successfully and explores the conditions which are required to make it possible.

Margaret Goodall considers 'the long goodbye' of people in the last stages of dementia in the context of the care home. She suggests that the search for meaning is the overriding spiritual need of people living with dementia as they approach the end of life.

Leslie Dinning offers the view of a hospital chaplain. He sees his role as going on a journey with the person living with dementia, with the family and with the staff, all of whom need support.

Palliative Care for People with Dementia
Katherine Froggatt, Adrian Treloar, Margaret Goodall, Leslie Dinning.
Leveson Paper Number Twelve
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Befriending Illness
James Woodward, Director of the Leveson Centre
Leveson Paper Number Thirteen

Befriending IllnessFollowing his well-reviewed book Befriending Death, James Woodward, the Director of the Leveson Centre, offers here an insight into illness and how we may approach it. He suggests that illness is a complex phenomenon which resists simple explanations and at the same time he dares to hope that a positive experience of illness is possible. He challenges simplistic views of illness whether they emanate from the scientific-medical culture or from Christian faith and does not believe that illness can be understood purely in physical terms. We need firstly to accept it as a natural part of the experience of all human beings throughout the ages, rather than something which is an affront to our scientific domination of creation, and secondly to learn from Christian reflection on the cross and the passivity of Jesus at the end of his life.

Befriending Illness
James Woodward - Leveson Paper Number Thirteen
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A Good Funeral
Dr Tony Walter, Richard Bragg,
Revd Mark Pryce, Dr Janet Eldred
Leveson Paper Number Fourteen

A Good FuneralThis Leveson Paper brings together four addresses delivered at a Leveson seminar which explored the characteristics of a good funeral. The speakers brought different but complementary perspectives and discovered a considerable amount of common ground.

Dr Tony Walter brings a professional sociologist's perspective. He traces the way in which expectations of funerals have changed and the extent to which the official liturgies of the Church of England have changed in recognition of the new demands.

Richard Bragg offers a funeral director's view and gives an insight into what it means to arrange a funeral which is wholly family-focused, seeking to fulfil the wishes of the family whether or not the funeral director personally finds them palatable.

Revd Mark Pryce writes from the perspective of a vicar in a busy urban parish where there may be a hundred funerals a year. He describes how he wrestles with the demands of families for personalised funerals which are essentially backward looking and his own commitment to the traditions of a church which seeks to offer hope for life beyond the grave.

Dr Janet Eldred combines her experience as a cemetery administrator with that of an academic researcher to consider the merits of 'second funerals' - ceremonies outside the main funeral which may extend and complete the process of saying farewell to a loved one. Such funerals can be typically less formal, less structured and more personal to the needs of the mourners.

Taken together these four papers offer much food for thought for all those who are involved in arranging or conducting funerals.

A Good Funeral
Dr Tony Walter, Richard Bragg,
Revd Mark Pryce, Dr Janet Eldred
Leveson Paper Number Fourteen
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Thinking the Unthinkable - ten years on
Frank Field MP
Fifth Leveson Lecture, 2006 (Leveson Paper 15)
£4.00 inc p & p.

Thinking the Unthinkable - ten years on - Frank Field MPThis publication is the text of the Fifth Leveson Lecture which was delivered by one of our distinguished Patrons, the Rt Hon Frank Field MP for Birkenhead.   It was different from its predecessors in that it did not focus exclusively on the issues which older people face. While pensioner poverty was addressed, this was set within the welfare reform programme over the past ten years.

Thus a significant portion of this publication deals with policies designed for example to help families from welfare into work and discusses the need for a vastly improved child support system. Clearly the welfare of any section of the community is bound up with the welfare of society as a whole and those concerned about social policy for older people need to be aware of the problems which any government faces in trying to institute wide-reaching welfare reforms.

The publication highlights the fact that whilst many of those who support the Leveson Centre for the Study of Ageing, Spirituality and Social Policy are particularly concerned with ageing and spirituality, social policy must be seen as equally important. If we are to pursue our aim of making life better for older people we cannot afford to ignore wider policy issues or turn our backs on the processes of political decision-making.

Thinking the Unthinkable - ten years on
Frank Field MP
Leveson Paper Number Fifteen
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Lighting the Way:
Spiritual and Religious Care for those with Dementia
Patricia Higgins and Richard Allen
Leveson Paper Number Sixteen
£5.00 inc p & p.

Lighting the Way: Spiritual and Religious Care for those with DementiaAre you involved in worship with people with dementia in a care home, a day hospital or in a local church setting?  Why not buy a copy of this invaluable, comprehensive and well written booklet which is full of common sense and gives a reading, hymn or song and ideas for a time of reflection for every week of the year following the Revised Common Lectionary?

An Appendix provides a complete service outline and services for
Christmas, Easter and Harvest

In addition the first section of the booklet reflects on dementia itself and on the pastoral, spiritual and religious needs of people with dementia. It  then sets out a set of principles to be followed when planning a service of worship looking at practical considerations to be taken into account. A short section also considers the application of this philosophy to other faiths.

The Leveson Centre is delighted to publish the second edition of this best seller which is based on the experience the authors gained setting up the Candlelight Group which responds to the spiritual and religious needs of patients with dementia in a day hospital.

Read review of paper 16

Lighting the Way: Spiritual and Religious Care for those with Dementia
Patricia Higgins and Richard Allen
Leveson Paper Number Sixteen
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The Humour of Old Age
Revd Dr Una Kroll
The Sixth Leveson Lecture (Leveson Paper 17)
£4.00 inc p & p.

The Humour of Old Age - Revd Dr Una Kroll In this paper, Una Kroll explores the place of humour in old age, the humour that sharpens the mind and lifts the spirit, the humour that acts as a wry defence against melancholy or despair, but also the humour that can be cruel and that needs to be challenged. She also points to some of the needs of older people and how younger carers and family members may be able to help meet them. In addition she demonstrates the value of listening to what older people have to say about themselves.

Revd Dr Una Kroll is herself an older person, living now in sheltered housing. During her career she was both a medical doctor and a priest in the Church of England and campaigned for many years for the ordination of women. The author of a number of books, her latest, Living Life to the Full, picks up many of the themes and questions which she has engaged in over her lifetime with such insight and honesty.

The Humour of Old Age
Revd Dr Una Kroll
Leveson Paper Number Seventeen
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A Mission-shaped Church for Older People?
Practical Suggestions for Local Churches
Michael Collyer, Claire Dalpra, Alison Johnson and James Woodward
£10.00 inc p & p.

A Mission-shaped Church for Older People? A new resource for churches from
Church Army and The Leveson Centre

A4 flyer in pdf format

This readily accessible resource should be invaluable for anyone who wants to think about the issues, problems and opportunities posed by an ageing population and then to take action.

In his Foreword Dr John Sentamu says ‘The way the book is set out will be warmly welcomed by busy and hard-pressed church leaders. In the first part, three modules (thirteen sessions including an introduction) are explained and planned - the leader has simply to familiarise themselves with the content and provide supportive material for each session. The second part contains a whole range of helpful related material which should be placed in the hands of anyone who ministers among older people: the range is quite extraordinary.

'When you have read the book, don’t pass it on. Buy some more copies to put into the hands of those engaged in any form of mission and ministry among adults today.’

This new resource is a joint venture through close collaboration between Church Army and the Leveson Centre for the Study of Ageing, Spirituality and Social Policy. It includes some of the material from an earlier Church Army manual, revised and updated, together with a considerable number of newly written chapters covering a wide range of relevant topics resulting from the first hand experience of the authors.

A Mission-shaped Church for Older People?
Practical Suggestions for Local Churches
£10.00 including postage. - ORDER NOW

Leveson Newsletter

The Leveson Centre Newsletter is distributed twice a year to the Friends of the Leveson Centre, whose subscription contributes to the cost of mailing. A sample copy of the newsletter is available for downloading.

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Leveson Newsletter 15 (June 2006) is available free in Adobe Acrobat format (122 KB).

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