Alzheimer’s
Disease and Other Dementias: The Caregiver’s Complete Survival Guide – Nataly
Rubinstein.
There are now several different books claiming to be the
complete caregiver’s guide, with varying truthfulness. I did enjoy this book,
although I don’t think it is the best of its type that I have read. I enjoyed
Janet Shagam’s, An Unintended Journey, a little better. Rubinstein certainly
knows what she’s talking about: not only is she a social worker who specializes
in geriatric care management, but she cared for her mother, who had
Alzheimer’s.
Like many, the book is a combination of memoir and
information and she does give a lot of great tips in each section for different
things like difficult behavior, communication, and caring for the caregiver. I
enjoyed reading the bits about her mother and her own life, but I thought the
tips were probably the best part of the book.
It is a thick book, with lots of information, most of which
is covered in other, shorter, books like, Learning to Speak Alzheimer’s so if
you don’t have the time or patience for a long read, choose other resources. It
is kind of nice to have it all in one place, however, and I suppose you could
jump around. In the end, she talks about respite care and institutionalized
care but stops the journey there without covering end of life. All in all, not
a bad resource if you have the time or just want a reference book. **
When the Time
Comes – Paula Span.
I really enjoyed this book, which was an informative
resource, memoir, and sociological study. It did cover some important issues
with humor and compassion, as well as information. Span followed several
families over an extended period of time as they wrestled with the illness and
age-related issues affecting their loved ones and gives us fascinating insight
into other caregivers’ lives. She also shares her own story about her mother’s
dementia and her increasing worries about her father as he ages. She describes
her book as a, ‘support group in print.’
Span describes the process of caring for our loved ones,
starting with home care and its good points and pitfalls. The stories about
families trying to hire private caregivers made me laugh because I, too, had my
issues with private aides. She moves on into Assisted Living and its pros and
cons, including a few tips on how to find a facility and what to look for.
There are good facilities and bad facilities, and some that are in between. I
always like seeing someone talk truthfully about facilities because they
sometimes get a bad rep, but like anything else, they run the spectrum.
Dementia, itself, and the ways we end up having to deal with
it, is often described as nothing but bad choices – choosing the best of the
worst. To a certain extent this is true, as none of us wanted to have to deal
with it in our loved ones. I like Span’s message of hope in the darkness,
however, and her descriptions of how some families have chosen to deal with the
way their cards were dealt. She focuses on a few issues, which I think is a
great idea, since the step-by-step eldercare manuals, like the one above, can
be too broad. I really enjoyed this book, and I would recommend it for anyone
who wants to read about people experiencing the same problems they are, with
compassion and humor. ****
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