How to Navigate the Minefield That Is Dementia with Your Loved One: A Guide Born of Experience is a book that I felt called to write. As a physician and one well versed in geriatrics, I thought I knew how to navigate the system to get dementia care for my husband. I was very wrong. Dementia is a worldwide epidemic. At the moment, there is no cure. Our understanding of the disease process is incomplete and appears multifactorial. Everyone knows or loves someone who has been afflicted with it. The very thought of dementia is met with fear and avoidance. Little information is available to the lay public. This book is written for a lay audience. In my view, knowledge is power, and my goal is to empower the general public with basic knowledge of the disease and what steps can be taken to deal with it with confidence. It is written in three parts. Part 1 is a memoir designed to introduce you to Ollie, and I and tell the story of what we experienced in our journey both before and during the dementia years. Part 2 is a scientific literature review, written in lay terms, describing the most common types of dementia and the most up-to-date information on diagnosis, cause, prevention, and treatment. References are provided mostly from 2018 through 2020. The third part is designed to help the caregiver understand where and how to get help for loved ones without destroying themselves both physically and financially. This is a book that will help you if you are already caring for a dementia patient. It may help you even more if you are not yet in that situation, because you will need this information along the way in your life journey.

Caring for a loved one with dementia is not easy. But with the right guidance and self-care, you can find joy. As an anesthesiologist, Susan Wilson Krechel spent her career working with geriatric patients. But nothing prepared her for the physically and emotionally demanding role of full-time caregiver after her beloved husband Oliver was diagnosed with dementia. As Oliver's dementia progressed, she saw her own health and wellbeing deteriorate to make her husband's remaining years as comfortable and dignified as possible. For eleven years, Dr. Krechel had the privilege of caring for her husband, and she learned many valuable lessons along the way. In The Dementia Caregiver's Survival Guide, Dr. Krechel shares pearls of wisdom to ease the burden of caring for a loved one with dementia. Considering the strain on a caregiver, Dr. Krechel's practical advice is designed not only to help caregivers improve the quality of care for their loved ones but also for themselves. Outlining steps to protect a caregiver's health and wealth, Dr. Krechel offers tips on how to deal with the emotional turmoil of inevitable conflicts and how to make self-care a priority. Dr. Krechel's unique perspective and deep understanding of the condition provides much needed support to anyone caring for a loved one with dementia.

With the heartfelt prose of a loving daughter, Patti Davis provides a life raft for the caregivers of Alzheimer’s patients. “For the decade of my father’s illness, I felt as if I was floating in the deep end, tossed by waves, carried by currents, but not drowning,” writes Patti Davis in this searingly honest and deeply moving account of the challenges involved in taking care of someone stricken with Alzheimer’s. When her father, the fortieth president of the United States, announced his Alzheimer’s diagnosis in an address to the American public in 1994, the world had not yet begun speaking about this cruel, mysterious disease. Yet overnight, Ronald Reagan and his immediate family became the face of Alzheimer’s, and Davis, once content to keep her family at arm’s length, quickly moved across the country to be present during “the journey that would take [him] into the sunset of [his] life.” Empowered by all she learned from caring for her father—about the nature of the illness, but also about the loss of a parent—Davis founded a support group for the family members and friends of Alzheimer’s patients. Along with a medically trained cofacilitator, she met with hundreds of exhausted and devastated attendees to talk through their pain and confusion. While Davis was aware that her own circumstances were uniquely fortunate, she knew there were universal truths about dementia, and even surprising gifts to be found in a long goodbye. With Floating in the Deep End, Davis draws on a welter of experiences to provide a singular account of battling Alzheimer’s. Eloquently woven with personal anecdotes and helpful advice tailored specifically for the overlooked caregiver, this essential guide covers every potential stage of the disease from the initial diagnosis through the ultimate passing and beyond. Including such tips as how to keep a loved one hygienic, and careful responses for when they drift to a time gone by, Davis always stresses the emotional milestones that come with slow-burning grief. Along the way, Davis shares how her own fractured family came together. With unflinching candor, she recalls when her mother, Nancy, who for decades could not show her children compassion or vulnerability, suddenly broke down in her arms. Davis also offers tender moments in which her father, a fabled movie star whom she always longed to know better, revealed his true self—always kind, even when he couldn’t recognize his own daughter. An inherently wise work that promises to become a classic, Floating in the Deep End ultimately provides hope to struggling families while elegantly illuminating the fragile human condition.

The beloved New York Times bestselling author tells the poignant love story of caring for her parents in their final years in this beautifully written memoir. “I’ll Be Seeing You moved me and broadened my understanding of the human condition.”—Wally Lamb, author of I Know This Much Is True Elizabeth Berg’s father was an Army veteran who was a tough man in every way but one: He showed a great deal of love and tenderness to his wife. Berg describes her parents’ marriage as a romance that lasted for nearly seventy years; she grew up watching her father kiss her mother upon leaving home, and kiss her again the instant he came back. His idea of when he should spend time away from her was never. But then Berg’s father developed Alzheimer’s disease, and her parents were forced to leave the home they loved and move into a facility that could offer them help. It was time for the couple’s children to offer, to the best of their abilities, practical advice, emotional support, and direction—to, in effect, parent the people who had for so long parented them. It was a hard transition, mitigated at least by flashes of humor and joy. The mix of emotions on everyone’s part could make every day feel like walking through a minefield. Then came redemption. I’ll Be Seeing You charts the passage from the anguish of loss to the understanding that even in the most fractious times, love can heal, transform, and lead to graceful—and grateful—acceptance.

Do you know someone with Dementia? Or do you want to know how it affects people’s lives? If your answer is yes to either of these questions then this is the book for you. Carers’ experiences from interviews: Hygiene and clothes Night time Transport Family and friends Guilt Social services and social workers Care homes and day centres Hospital Laughter Finance Places to go for help

I have been a Geriatric Care Manager for over 24 years. I specialize in issues surrounding long-term care communities and the unique needs of residents with dementia. I have worked in long-term care communities as a Certified Nurse's Aide and Certified Medical Technician; I have had family members in long-term care and was the Director of Ombudsman Services and Lead Advocate for the St. Louis Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program for over 17 years. With experience working, having loved ones in a long-term community, and having 24 years as an advocate for residents in long-term care, I believe I am uniquely qualified to help the residents, staff, and families come together to resolve situations that can arise in the long-term care communities.I have a master's degree in Gerontology and had the pleasure of doing my practicum study with the St. Louis Alzheimer's Association, where I came into direct contact with families struggling with care for loved ones with dementia in their homes as well as those who had loved ones in long-term care communities. During my time with the Alzheimer's Association, I saw the need for individuals who specialized in advocating for individuals with dementia.Over the years, I have seen many things, but one thing I know needs to happen is that family members need to have access to the regulations and understand resident rights before problems arise. The greatest tool I can pass on to you, the family of a resident, is knowing that a family who knows and understands resident rights has a greater advantage when it comes to getting good care for their loved one. Often, I would talk with families who were told things that were not true. Once a family member knows and understands a resident's rights, they often do not need an advocate speaking for them; they can handle the situation independently.The reason for writing this book is to empower all residents, families, students, and professionals. Knowledge is power. When you know and understand residents' rights, you can become a powerful advocate for your loved ones and improve their quality of life.

How do you continue to find God as dementia pulls your loved one into the darkness? Philosopher Douglas Groothuis offers a window into his experience of caring for his wife as a rare form of dementia ravages her once-brilliant mind. Mixing personal narrative with spiritual insight, he captures moments of lament as well as theological reflection and poignant pictures of their life together.