How can carers and relatives support a person's identity, relationships and emotional wellbeing through changes that occur in the later stages of dementia? Drawing on over ten years' experience of working with people with dementia, Karrie Marshall provides a toolkit of tried and tested creative activities to support communication and relationships. Activities are vast and varied, with outdoor activities such as bird-watching and star-gazing aimed at supporting physical health, artistic activities such as collage creation to support identity, and musical activities such as sounds and voice warm-ups to support self-expression. Marshall also sensitively covers end of life care for people with dementia, explaining how emotional support can be provided through gentle breathing activities and even puppetry, as well as covering the legal importance of power of attorney.

Dementia brings many challenges, not least its ability to disrupt effective communication. The quality of communication plays a major role in how well people living with a dementia manage. When communication doesn't work well, the complications of dementia are compounded. Rather than only offering tips on what to say and how to say it, this book explores the underlying motivations of communication, so we can better understand why we say what we do, why we say it the way we do, what can go wrong, and how attempts to fix things can go awry. As well as considering why communication goes wrong in day-to-day conversations, the chapters offer advice on dealing with awkward moments, the question of deception, and the things we can and can't control in dementia. Readers are asked to reflect on their own role, and how they can manage their own behaviours to avoid unintentionally blocking routes to productive communication. Including clear action points for carers, bystanders and people with a dementia diagnosis, this book shows how to approach communication to improve outcomes.

This book is invaluable to nurses and all health and social care practitioners working with people living with dementia in a variety of contexts. It presents a series of true-to-life case studies tackling the ethical and practical dilemmas of dementia care and how to use theoretical approaches to come to potential solutions. The reader is encouraged to explore evidence-based approaches to practice, based on the professional reasoning and experience of the practitioner and the emotional psychological and practical needs of the person living with dementia. Key themes running through case studies include: effective communication, person-centred practice, social citizenship, strengths-based approaches and relationship-focused support, as well as organisational culture. Each case study provides readers with opportunities to experience and discuss clinical dilemmas in a safe space with an annotated thinking-aloud framework that allows them to unpack the elements of each situation so as to develop a range of solution-focused perspectives in order to overcome barriers and deliver best practice.

Innovative ideas designed so care partners can engage and connect with people living with dementia. On the dementia journey, each quality moment of connection is priceless. Deborah Shouse and dozens of experts in the field of dementia share ideas that engage the creative spirit so you can continue to experience those meaningful moments of connecting. These easy and adaptable projects--music, art, movies, cooking, storytelling, gardening, movement, and many more--can foster stronger relationships, renew hope, and ignite a sense of purpose for people who are living with dementia and their care partners. You don't need special skills to enjoy these expressive activities. Simply incorporate them into your daily routine and you'll enrich your time together. Deborah Shouse is a writer, speaker, editor, creativity catalyst, and dementia advocate. She has an MBA but uses it only in emergencies. Her writing has appeared in a variety of publications including The Washington Post, The Huffington Post, Natural Awakenings, Reader’s Digest, Newsweek, Woman’s Day, Spirituality & Health, The Chicago Tribune and Unity Magazine. Deborah has been featured in many anthologies, including more than four-dozen Chicken Soup books. She has written a number of business books and for years Deborah wrote a love story column for the Kansas City Star.

Many new pieces of technology can be beneficial to individuals living with dementia, including both hardware and software. This straightforward guide summarises the current research on this growing topic, and gives practical advice on how available technology can be used to improve the everyday lives of people with dementia. Looking at a range of available products, such as off-the-shelf computers and smartphones, to dementia specific applications and programs, it also addresses some common obstacles and barriers faced when introducing technology in dementia care. The past twenty years have seen an array of technologies developed to improve the day-to-day lives of people with dementia; this guide shows how they can be effectively used.

A collection of informative and inspirational thoughts of many of the nation’s leaders in research, medicine, education, senior care and advocacy around the subject of Alzheimer’s disease. The Future of Alzheimer's features candid views from experts on how they respond today to someone on the difficult journey of Alzheimer’s and what they believe is the future hope for a cure. More than 20 experts in the field of Alzheimer's research or caretakers are asked two key questions: What advice would you give to the loved ones of someone who is newly diagnosed? Do you think there will be a cure, and if so, when? Their answers help provide context and hope for patients, caretakers and loved ones looking for answers by providing helpful insights on the disease and what's to come. Alzheimer's prevalence in the US makes it the 6th leading cause of death, killing more than half a million people, mainly seniors, every year and experts believe this number will only grow. The Future of Alzheimer's seeks to make this and other forms of dementia less of the devastating diagnosis it is now for all of those people.

Meaningful touch is an essential part of truly person-centred dementia care, yet its value is often viewed as secondary to its perceived risks. This book restores trust in the power of touch, demonstrating the vital role it plays in supporting personhood, relationships and wellbeing, and challenging the barriers preventing staff from using touch in meaningful ways. Using many examples from practice, Luke Tanner demonstrates that touch and other forms of non-verbal communication are essential for 'being with' and not just 'doing to' people living with a dementia, and explains how and when to use touch effectively in everyday interactions, and in all stages of dementia. He places touch in the context of consent and safeguarding, whilst emphasising the need for positive attitudes to touch to be at the heart of care cultures. Offering perspectives, ideas, training exercises and culture change actions to maximise the benefits of touch in dementia care settings, this practical guide will enable practitioners to reflect on their own use of touch and develop the knowledge, skills and confidence to place meaningful touch at the heart of their work.