The Best Friends Approach To Alzheimer S Care

The Best Friends Approach to Alzheimer's Care shows how easily you can make a difference in the life of a family member or client in your care. Here's the help you've been looking for: families will gain a renewed sense of hope, nursing facility staff will find simple applications for resident care, adult day center staff can enrich programming and attract more volunteers, and individuals with emerging Alzheimer's disease will gain valuable insights. Learn new ways to solve problems, encourage positive behavior, and improve communications. Make every day consistently reassuring, enjoyable, and secure.

More than 5 million Americans are currently living with Alzheimer's disease or a related form of dementia. By the year 2030, experts estimate that as many as 66 million people around the world will be faced with this life-altering disease. Unfortunately, these staggering statistics impact millions of caregivers, too. Compared with all types of caregivers, those who assist someone with dementia experience the highest levels of burnout, depression, poor health, and premature death. A Dignified Life, Revised and Expanded offers hope and help with a proven approach. Ten years ago, the first edition of A Dignified Life changed the way the caregiving community approached Alzheimer's disease by showing caregivers how to act as a Best Friend to the person, finding positive ways to interact even as mental abilities declined. Firmly grounded in the latest knowledge about the progression and treatment of dementia, this expanded edition offers a wealth of immediately usable tips and new problem-solving advice. It incorporates practical ideas for therapeutic activities—including the latest brain-fitness exercises—stimulate the brain while adding structure, meaning, and context to daily routines. With new stories and examples as well as an updated resources section, A Dignified Life, Revised and Expanded gives caregivers the support and advice they need to be successful and inspired in their demanding roles. While medical treatment of the disease hasn't changed in the past ten years, our understanding and awareness of treating people in a more caring way has changed substantially. With no cure on the immediate horizon, respectful care by effective and compassionate care partners is the only real "treatment" available to people with dementia. The Best FriendsTM Approach is successful because it sustains people's connection to their world, their loved ones, and themselves. It's a universal program which has been embraced by professional and family caregivers throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and South America. In its revised form, A Dignified Life offers caregivers an antidote to the burnout and frustration that often accompanies the role of caring for a person with Alzheimer's and dementia. Rather than struggling through a series of frustrations and failures, A Dignified Life shows the new generation care partners how to bring dignity, meaning, and peace of mind to the lives of both those who have Alzheimer's and dementia and those who care for them.

Alzheimer's can have a devastating impact on a patient's close relationships and all too often, family members and friends feel so uncomfortable that they end up dreading visits, or simply give up trying to stay in contact with the patient. This book offers a wealth of practical things you can do to stay connected with the Alzheimer's patient in your life. It offers straightforward suggestions and invaluable do's and don'ts, with advice on everything from dealing effectively with the inevitable repetition that occurs in conversations with an Alzheimer's patient to helpful strategies for saying no to unrealistic demands. It also includes thoughtful tips to remind you to take care of your own feelings and suggestions for helping children become comfortable with visiting an Alzheimer's sufferer.

Wayman offers compassionate advice on overcoming practical and emotional obstacles to maintaining meaningful relationship with loved ones who have dementia and memory loss. She offers caregiving insights and information about the dangers of denying the onset of cognitive problems.

A good mind knows the right answers...but a great mind knows the right questions. And never are the 10 Best Questions™ more important than after the life-altering diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. Drawing on cutting-edge research and advice given by experts from the Alzheimer's Association, Mayo Clinic, and UCLA's Memory Clinic and Center for Aging -- as well as personal stories from caretakers, including television star and activist Linda Dano and nationally syndicated columnist Harriet Cole -- The 10 Best Questions™ for Living with Alzheimer's is a guide you'll take with you to your doctor's office and keep close at hand as your loved one progresses from the initial diagnosis through all the stages of the disease. In addition to the medical questions, you'll also learn what you need to ask your spouse or parent; questions to assess home safety issues, driving skills, and home care; and how to care for your own emotional, legal, and financial health. With a wealth of resources and up-to-the-minute information, The 10 Best Questions™ for Living with Alzheimer's shows you and your family how to move past a scary diagnosis and use the power of questions to become your own best health advocate -- for yourself and for your loved one.

A revolutionary new approach to Alzheimer’s care, focusing on a patient’s strengths to maintain connections with others and the world There currently is no cure for Alzheimer’s disease— though it can be treated. For the last fifteen years, John Zeisel, Ph.D. has spearheaded a movement to treat Alzheimer’s non-pharmacologically by focusing on the mind’s strengths. I’m Still Here is a guidebook to Dr. Zeisel’s treatment ideas, showing the possibility and benefits of connecting with an Alzheimer’s patient through their abilities that don’t diminish with time, such as understanding music, art, facial expressions, and touch. By harnessing these capacities, and by using other strategies, it’s possible to offer the person a quality life with connection to others and to the world. In March 2013, Dr. Zeisel and his work will be the focus of the program airing on public television stations entitled “Hopeful Aging,” bringing his life-changing ideas to a national audience.

Reminiscence is a vital way to stimulate communication and promote confidence and self-worth in people with dementia. This practical guide is designed to give those who care for people with dementia a clear sense of how reminiscence can be used to greatly improve their quality of life. The book explores how reminiscence can contribute to person-centred dementia care and contains detailed descriptions of activities that can be used in a group setting, for one-to-one reminiscence at home or in a variety of care settings. Based on ideas developed and tested internationally over a period of ten years, the book offers imaginative approaches to reminiscence and a wealth of resources for use in a wide range of situations. The book includes advice on organising a reminiscence project and provides a useful planning tool for group sessions. Remembering Yesterday, Caring Today highlights the value of reminiscence for those with dementia and is an essential guide to good practice for family and professional carers.