Main description:

This practical guide provides general caregiving tips and helps you decide when and how to transition your loved one to a dementia care community.

Caring for someone with dementia is challenging, especially when it comes time to think about other living arrangements. What do you need to know about dementia, including its different stages? What do you do if the person you're caring for seems to have trouble recognizing you? When is it time to move a person living with dementia into a senior living community? And how can you maintain your relationship with your loved one when you are living apart?

Gerontologist and dementia care consultant Rachael Wonderlin has written a compassionate book to help friends and family members of those living with dementia answer these tough questions-and more. In practical, down-to-earth language, The Caregiver's Guide to Memory Care and Dementia Communities walks the reader through key points about dementia care, including

* common terminology used by health care workers
* strategies for taking care of your loved one
* advice for when and how to transition to a dementia care community
* understanding how dementia care communities are structured and what to keep in mind when evaluating them
* how to help your loved one receive the best possible care while they're living apart
* recommendations for handling obstacles involving communication and behavioral issues
* information on technology, hospice care, programming and activities, and at-home safety

A dedicated section called "Putting It into Practice" in each chapter helps you apply the principles to your own experience, while worksheets present you with questions to consider as part of the caregiving and assessment process.

Contents:

Foreword, by Michelle Tristani
Part I. Defining and Understanding Dementia
Chapter 1. Why This Book Is Worth Reading
Chapter 2. What Is Dementia?
Chapter 3. Causes of Dementia
Chapter 4. Stages of Dementia
Chapter 5. Medications
Part II. Communicating with People Living with Dementia
Chapter 6. Embracing Someone's Reality
Chapter 7. Why Logic, Quizzing, and Reorientation Don't Work
Chapter 8. Yes, and . . . : Improvisation and Dementia
Chapter 9. Communicating with Someone Experiencing Hallucinations and Delusions
Chapter 10. Helping with Timeline Confusion
Chapter 11. Personal Preferences
Chapter 12. Becoming a Dementia Detective
Chapter 13. Aphasia
Part III. Caregiver Stress and Choosing a Care Community
Chapter 14. Caregiving Stress
Chapter 15. Guilt and Taking Things Away
Chapter 16. How to Handle Family Dynamics When Choosing a Care Community
Chapter 17. Myths about Care Communities
Chapter 18. At-Home Safety
Chapter 19. When Is It Time to Move Your Loved One?
Chapter 20. What Types of Communities Exist?
Chapter 21. Cost of Care
Part IV. Caregiving in a Care Community
Chapter 22. What to Expect at a Dementia Care Community
Chapter 23. Move-In Day
Chapter 24. Remember That Caregiving Is an Imperfect Science
Chapter 25. Visiting and Saying Goodbye
Chapter 26. Day Trips and Outings
Chapter 27. Activities
Chapter 28. Building a Dementia-Friendly Environment
Part V. Changes in Care
Chapter 29. When Technology Works and When It Doesn't
Chapter 30. When It's Time for a Dietary Change
Chapter 31. Friendships and Disagreements among Residents
Chapter 32. Sex and Sexual Orientation
Chapter 33. When It's Time for Hospice
Chapter 34. When There's a Hospital Trip
Chapter 35. Final Thoughts and Notes
Appendix. Clinical Dementia Rating Scale
Index