"Includes free access to download forms kit"--cover.

Today more than 40 million people in the U.S. find themselves responsible for caring for a parent, relative, or friend. Building Better Caregivers, developed by the author team of the bestselling Living a Healthy Life with Chronic Conditions, shares the best in caregiving research and the most important lessons learned from thousands of caregivers. With a focus on reducing stress through the use of practical skills and tools, this book will help you manage your caregiving tasks so you can maintain a happy, fulfilling life while also meeting your caregiving obligations.

One in five Canadians are now providing eldercare to a parent in need, and as baby-boomers age, this number is likely to grow. What do you do when your mother or father grows old? It’s the natural course of life, but so many children of aging parents are unprepared. When a parent’s health begins to fail, an adult child is left scrambling to find help, to balance their time, and to cope. The Caregiver’s Guide will provide readers with valuable tips and advice to help them to provide the best eldercare possible while balancing the demands on their time. This is not a mental “self-help” book. While it does provide encouragement and support for caregivers, it also provides practical advice on how to care for elders in need. This comprehensive guide answers all a caregiver’s common questions, such as: • Should my parent stay at home or move to assisted living? • How do I balance caregiving responsibilities with my personal life? • When to apply for guardianship and/or trusteeship • How to hire a professional caregiver should the need arise

The Caregiver's Guidebook is your personal resource for successfully navigating the healthcare system as a Caregiver. This Guidebook offers tips for self care and provides lists that enable you to chronicle and organize your journey.

Alzheimer's disease is often referred to as a family disease because of the constant emotional strain it places on family members as they watch their loved ones slowly slip away. But for those left with caring for their loved ones, the emotional, physical, and financial toll can be enormous so much so that most caregivers fail to take care of themselves and become depressed, ill and unable to continue their role as caregiver. Courage to Care: A Caregiver's Companion Through the Stages of Alzheimer's helps to ease the burden of those who have accepted this labor of love by providing them with knowledge and coping strategies to make it through each stage of this progressive and complicated disease. The book focuses not only on how to deal with the emotional issues associated with the disease, but provides specific advice on how to make life easier and more enjoyable for both the loved one and the caregiver.

When the doctors told Lela Shanks that Alzheimer's would render her husband totally helpless, she was given no instructions on how to manage his disease at home. It was understood that Alzheimer's patients were destined for institutional care. Undaunted, she cared for Hughes at home for the next thirteen years until his peaceful death in 1998. In Your Name Is Hughes Hannibal Shanks, Lela Shanks sets forth the knowledge and wisdom that made all the difference. She describes her initial denial, her gradual acceptance, and her discovery that the key to successful caregiving lies in never losing sight of the patient's humanity. Shanks details the symptoms and stages of the disease, sets forth practical techniques for managing problems such as wandering and incontinence, and outlines twenty coping and survival strategies for caregivers.This moving personal account is an instructional guide and a source of inspiration and support, even humor, for anyone -- family or professional -- who lives or works with men and women with Alzheimer's disease.

Tips and information include: what symptoms and treatments to expect; questions to ask your medical team; recommendations on how to manage your mountain of medical bills; advice on nutrition and recipes for delicious meals; shopping lists for everything you'll need; and much more.