Bookshop
© Copyright 2007 Sheryl Karas & Paul Hood
Books on Family Caregiving
Share the Care:
How to Organize a Group to Care for Someone Who Is Seriously Ill
by Cappy Capossela and Sheila Warnock
This book has everything you need to do this right including scripts to follow when organizing or running your initial careteam meeting and forms that make organizing volunteers a lot easier. I wish more people would take the concept of putting together a care team to heart. If you're doing 24-hr caregiving, you need one!
The Complete Bedside Companion:
A No-Nonsense Guide to Caring for the Seriously Ill
by Rodger McFarlane & Philip Bashe
This is like a textbook for anyone who might ever find themselves in the position of taking care of someone they love. It covers the basics about a very wide range of issues related to providing family care: how to deal with doctors, hospitals, and insurance providers, home nursing skills, legal matters, financial affairs, even how to get help from family and friends, joining support groups and the importance of taking care of yourself. It also has specific information about how to cope with common aspects of a wide variety of diseases and situations including cancer, chronic pulmonary disease, HIV/AIDS, kidney disease, heart disease, diabetes, and neurological impairment. Emphasis is on the practical aspects—how to test blood glucose levels, avoid bedsores, deal with impaired mobility, incontinence, etc. This is an invaluable reference, kind of like basic first aid times ten—although it won't tell you everything you need to know about the day to day of long term care. I bought a copy to have at home.
The 36-Hour Day:
A Family Guide to Caring for Persons With Alzheimer Disease, Related Dementing Illnesses, and Memory Loss in Later Life
by Nancy Mace
This used to be considered the Alzheimer's Disease bible. In fact, I was required to read it my first day on the job at the Alzheimer's Association and I referred to over and over again when helping my clients there. It's a bit of a depressing read—this book tells it like it is and pulls no punches—but with dementing illnesses it helps to be prepared for what can happen and this book is one of the best.
Another Country:
Navigating the Emotional Terrain of Our Elders
by Mary Pipher
This is an excellent book for helping to bridge the gap between generations that often makes communication--and therefore, caregiving--particularly painful. Pipher's main premise is that our elders grew up in a world where not being self-sufficient brought the greatest shame. It can be difficult to convince older parents to accept or even discuss such issues as physical and mental health, finances, eldercare, or living wills. Their children, on the other hand, grew up in a psychoanalyzed society where they were conditioned to speak openly about difficulties and seek assistance from their peers and outside authorities. This creates an inherent conflict which Pipher's book addresses in great detail. She includes numerous stories and case histories with useful advice for bridging the gaps. This book should be on the required reading list for anyone caring for an elderly person.
Counting on Kindness:
The Dilemmas of Dependency
by Wendy Lustbader
Another book like Mary Pipher's Another Country (above) that focuses on bridging the communication gaps that make caregiving our elderly parents especially challenging. While Pipher's book draws on the author's personal history and interest in the cultural antecedents for behavioral mindsets and patterns, Wendy Lustbader's perspective is informed by her many years of compassionate professional service with elderly clients, in particular those with Alzheimer's and other brain-impairing ailments. This book is a tremendous resource and Wendy Lustbader is a blessing.