Summer Reading
Since I have become a caregiver, I enjoy reading anything to do with Alzheimer’s Disease especially personal stories from people who have walked the journey alongside their loved one. The theme of my last three books addresses the approach taken when dealing with a person with dementia and how to engage them in meaningful activities to maintain qualify of life and make life manageable for the caregiver.
Virginia Bell and David Troxel are in their fourth printing of “The Best Friends Approach to Alzheimer’s Care”. The Best Friends Approach is designed to create empathy from the carer point of view in order to understand how best to communicate with their loved one living with dementia. They have coined the term “knack” to refer in caregiving as a clever trick or stratagem or the ability and skill to do something easily. Some individuals are simply born with knack; their personality and sensibility help them to be wonderful caregivers. The Best Friends model can teach the abilities and skills of knack and along the way offer many clever tricks in the “dos and don’ts of Alzheimer’s care. This is a worthwhile book and is only one of several written by these authors.
Hot off the press is Tom and Karen Brenner’s new book,” You Say Goodbye and We Say Hello: the Montessori Method for Positive Dementia Care”. Incorporating songs from the Beatles as each chapter title, this easy read has a clever appeal to the targeted baby boomers providing care. Granted that dementia care is an overwhelming task, they have broken down their personal experiences as a gerontologist and a Montessori teacher to share their findings labeled “Guideposts” throughout their story. They weave innovative and doable activities throughout the book and leave both professional and family caregivers with a renewed hope for creating a positive environment to deepen the connection with the people they love and care for.
Finally, having to wait longer than expected to receive this book in the mail, “Contented Dementia” traveled across the pond from England to find its way to me. Author Oliver James lives in Oxfordshire and is trained as a clinical child psychologist and is a trustee of the Alzheimer’s charity, SPECAL. An open letter from the inventor of the prescribed method in this book tells the reader if they have dementia and are reading the letter, not to worry about the future, appoint a person they trust as their advocate and have them read the book, then forget all about the diagnosis and get on with enjoying their life. The rest of the book goes into great detail on how to use the person’s history to help create a life living in the present with memories from the past. Penelope Garner developed the SPECAL Technique after caring for her own mother followed by years of observation and research with other clients. Get ready to do your homework as you read so that you will develop a customized world where your caree lives contently. For more information, go to Contented Dementia Trust.
All three of these books are similar. Each stresses the importance of knowing the history, preferences and interests of someone with dementia and not to argue with but learn how to navigate away from unwanted negative behaviors associated with dementia. Once these methods are perfected, consistency with all carers involved is required for optimum outcome. All are worth reading. We have a long way to go to get everyone on the same page with caregiving techniques. May it begin with us – the ones who care the most.
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