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The Reluctant Caregivers: Learning to Care for a Loved One With Alzheimer's, Anne Hendershott, (2000) Bergin & Garvey, 88 Post Rd. West, Westport, CT 06881 www.greenwood.com, $35.00. Anne Hendershott combines her personal and professional experience as a caregiver and a university sociology professor to offer insight into the rewards and challenges of caring for a person with Alzheimer's disease. The book portrays three caregiving coping styles: the super-caregiver, martyr-caregiver and reality-based caregiver. Honest caregiver stories interwoven with documented research studies are used to address such caregiver dilemmas as family conflict, workplace issues and accepting outside help. The fourth chapter offers especially poignant examples of how children experience a family member with AD. A glossary at the end of the book provides resources that can help ease the Alzheimer's disease caregiving journey.
Caregiver's Handbook: A Complete Guide to Home Health Care, Visiting Nurse Associations of America, (1998). DK Publishing, Inc., 95 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10016, www.dk.com, (212) 213-4800, $14.95. This is an invaluable source of information for anyone caring for someone at home. Among the topics covered are adapting the home, bed comfort, bladder and bowel control, personal care and pal-liative care. Photographs are used liberally throughout the book, providing clear and easy-to-follow instructions for a wide variety of caregiving skills, in-cluding how to move someone in bed, helping someone with mobility limitations walk safely, and dressing skills for both caregivers and people with limited mobility.
Caregiving-Leisure and Aging, M. Jean Keller, Ed.D, C.T.R.S. (1999), The Haworth Press Inc., 10 Alice Street, Binghamton, NY 13904-1580, (800) HAWORTH, $19.95 (Note: This was published simultaneously as Activities, Adaptation, & Aging, Volume 24, No. 2, 1999.) A useful tool for professionals and educators, this book is a compilation of six studies that examine the role of leisure in the lives of caregivers. Through an analysis of previous literature, the negative effects of caregiving on health are established. Then the book explains why many caregivers fail to seek or refuse leisure opportunities. Finally, innovative approaches to leisure and recreation are suggested for further development and study.
Alzheimer's Early Stages: First Steps in Caring and Treatment, Daniel Kuhn, M.S.W., Hunter House Publishers, P.O. Box 2914, Alameda, CA 94501-0914, www.hunterhouse.com, (800) 266-5592, $14.95. Daniel Kuhn's book is a welcome addition to caregiver literature. His book is specifically written for family members and friends of people in the early stages of Alzheimer's. By focusing on the early stages, Kuhn's book allows family caregivers to gently begin exploring the disease, preparing for the future, and learning about the caregiver role. In addition to providing insight on how to care for the person with early stage Alzheimer's, Kuhn also teaches the caregiver how to care for him or herself. Practical information is interspersed with vignettes and caregivers' quotes that depict the range of care experiences.
Finger Foods for Independence, Lois Newton and Alan Stewart, (1999), Creative State, P.O. Box 6250, Halifax Street, Adelaide, South Australia 5000, www.creativestate.com.au, approximately $15.00. (Note: The book should be available through a distributor in the United States in the near future.) This useful guide for encouraging independence in feeding and eating is written particularly for those affected with Alzheimer's disease or those who have difficulty managing conventional cutlery. The menu, based on the food pyramid, presents healthy, nourishing and balanced recipes.
Self Care for Caregivers, A Twelve Step Approach, Pat Samples, Diane Larsen and Marvin Larsen, (1991), Hazelden Educational Materials, (800) 328-9000, $10.00. The authors share the power of self-care that can be found in reliance on Twelve Step principles. They describe how codependent, harmful behaviors can develop when caregivers assume responsibility for others. They demonstrate with their own stories how turning to the Twelve Steps can help caregivers acknowledge pain, break free of emotional snarls, and find strength to provide healthy support and love.
Understanding Behavior in Huntington's Disease: A practical guide for individuals, families and professionals coping with HD, Jane Paulsen, Ph.D., author and editor, Second Edition (1999), Huntington's Disease Society of America, 158 West 29th Street, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10001-5300, (800) 345-HDSA, $6.00. This useful book fosters an understanding of the various causes of the major behavioral changes that accompany HD. Dr. Paulsen provides strategies to cope with the difficult behaviors of apathy, agitation, rigid thinking, denial, disorganization, paranoia, forgetfulness, altered sexuality and sleep disturbances. She presents a brief overview of how pathological changes in brain anatomy affect behavior. The book includes a table that contrasts some of the problems of people affected by HD to those of people affected by Alzheimer's disease.
A Caregiver's Handbook for Advanced-Stage Huntington's Disease, Jim Pollard, author and editor, (1999), Huntington's Disease Society of America, (see address above), $6.00. This practical handbook will be helpful to families and nursing home staff seeking basic information about care in the more advanced stages of HD. A collaboration by professional caregivers from the US and Canada, a multitude of useful recommendations are presented for dealing with the alterations in movement, cognition and emotion. Communication challenges due to slower thinking and difficulty learning are discussed with case histories that demonstrate coping strategies. Nutrition to prevent weight loss, approaches to swallowing problems, preventing falls and promoting independence in activities of daily living are presented in a manner that encourages problem solving.
The Caregiver Helpbook, Powerful Tools for Caregiving, Vicki L. Schmall, Ph.D., Marilyn Cleland, R.N., Marilynn Sturdevant, R.N., M.S.W., L.C.S.W., (2000), Legacy Health System, Legacy Caregiver Services, 1015 NW 22nd Avenue, N300, Portland, OR 07210, (503) 413-6578, www.legacyhealth.org, $20.00. One of the greatest challenges of being a family caregiver is maintaining one's own physical and emotional health. This book, developed as part of the family caregiver education program "Taking Care of You: Powerful Tools for Caregiving," is designed to provide caregivers with tools to increase self-care and give them confidence in handling difficult situations, emotions and decisions. Topics include reducing personal stress, communicating effectively with family, doctors and professional caregivers, hiring in-home help, practicing self-care, using community services, setting goals and problem solving.
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