"My parent needs help, but refuses to consider a nursing home." That’s the dilemma facing millions of baby boomers today. How can we ensure responsible, compassionate, even uplifting care for our aging parents at home?Mindfulness is key, Ann Cason writes. Good care begins with watching and listening, with entering the elder's world and accepting it. Drawing on decades of experience in caring for the elderly, Cason helps us understand how old age feels and how we can help.Th...

In 1943, the community of Mossy Oak is home to “the gang,” a group of young people who have grown up together, sharing secrets, experiences, and discoveries of life. The war has turned them in to serious-minded adults trying to find their way in a world of uncertainty, and it has taken several members far away. Even so, they maintain a connection to each other through letters—a way to hold on to what they knew as security.Mary Lou is a beautiful, precocious young lady—full of herse...

Christine Bryden was 46 years old when she was diagnosed with dementia, and in this book she describes her remarkable emotional, physical and spiritual journey in the three years immediately following. Offering rare first-hand insights into how it feels to gradually lose the ability to undertake tasks most people take for granted, it is made all the more remarkable by Christine's positivity and strength, and deep sense, drawn in part from her Christian faith, that life continues to have pu...

Kate Swaffer was just 49 years old when she was diagnosed with a form of younger onset dementia. In this book, she offers an all-too-rare first-hand insight into that experience, sounding a clarion call for change in how we ensure a better quality of life for people with dementia.Kate describes vividly her experiences of living with dementia, exploring the effects of memory difficulties, loss of independence, leaving long-term employment, the impact on her teenage sons, and the eno...

The experiences and needs of residents and patients in nursing and care homes are very different at night, and this is particularly true for those with dementia. Yet nursing and care homes are not always inspected with the same rigour at night as they are during the day, and night staff do not always receive the same levels of training, resources and supervision as day staff.This book provides night staff, their managers and anyone else with an interest in care homes during the nig...

The award-winning PEARL (Positively Enriching and enhancing Residents' Lives) programme was developed to enable care homes to move from providing good fundamental care to excellent person-centred dementia care. Trialled extensively by one of the UK's largest care providers, it has been proven to dramatically increase the quality of life of people with dementia living in care homes, significantly reducing the use of antipsychotics and the incidence of stress-related behaviours.This ...

Will you be ready when it's time...?Whether whittling down to the essentials for a parent moving into a room ortwo or downsizing for ourselves, ignoring the spirit and basing decisions onhealth and safety alone could have devastating results.In this hope filled book you will learn how to:Identify needs and desires to create a quality new lifeCope with the Depression Era mind-setCreate emotionally sustaining environments to nurture the...

The correlation between 'disengagement' and illness in people with dementia living in long-term care settings is becoming more widely recognised, and developing and adapting front-line staff responses to the changing needs of individuals is a crucial factor in addressing this problem.This book presents a complete practical framework for whole person assessment, care planning and review of persons with dementia or signs of dementia (including those with learning disabilities) who ar...

For the increasing number of people diagnosed with dementia each year, treatment in the early stages can make a significant difference to their quality of life. This book provides examples of psychosocial interventions: taking into consideration the individual, social and environmental aspects of the person's life.It looks at ways of providing support at the time of diagnosis and goes on to explore a variety of interventions and services for the treatment of early dementia. Bringin...

Activity and engagement are vital to our well-being throughout our lives and this continues to be just as true of people living with dementia.The activities presented in this book have been designed to provide meaningful engagement for residents, while respecting each individual resident's readiness to engage and participate. This approach to person-centred care has proven to be extremely effective: activities such as Namaste Care and Memory Cafés have engaged residents who had pre...

In Reducing Stress-Related Behaviours in people with Dementia, Chris Bonner has written a thoroughly entertaining, yet highly instructive, manual for people with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias... I highly recommend that everyone who encounters persons with Alzheimer's disease or other dementias, routinely or occasionally, read through this manual. Even for seasoned professionals or family members who have given 10 years to the care of a spouse, there are insightful nuggets that wi...

Personalisation builds on person-centred care to focus on how people with dementia can have more choice and control over decisions affecting them, and be supported to be part of their communities.This practical guide explains how to deliver personalised services and support for people with dementia through simple, evidence-based person-centred practices. The authors clearly explain personalisation and current person-centred thinking and practice, providing many vivid examples of ho...