Utilizing the 'Stages of Alzheimer's,' graphs, as researched by Dr. Barry Reisberg and Lisa P. Gwyther, which deal with the symptoms as they occur throughout the disease, I approach the care problems from a caregivers point of view.  Knowing in what order the symptoms occur is helpful but it doesn't aid your understanding of the process that is occurring.  This section attempts to give the caregiver reasons why the changes occur and offers a new way to look at and solve the problems that result from those changes/symptoms. 

We caregivers need to be empowered, to see our tasks as tasks and not as some very base reflection of drudgery if we are to survive.  And, our people need us to reclaim their humanity from a world that tends to see them as already dead.  What we are, is ordinary people doing an extraordinary job under very difficult circumstances and in that respect we are nothing less than heroic.  And don’t let anyone else tell you differently.

This title page lists:

• The various service providers, their job duties, assessing their qualifications, and their ethical obligations 

• How to set up a treatment team and establish a treatment plan

• How to assert your role as leader of your treatment team 

• How to document the plan, organize your records, and prepare for meetings 

• How to empower yourself as the primary caregiver

I point out pit falls to look for and avoid, and use caregiver stories to emphasize how bias can undermine even the best of treatment plans.

90% of the behavior problems that arise during the mid-stage of Alzheimer's can be lessened by altering their environment, examining attitudes used in approaching them during a crises, and being prepared to deal with the inevitable.  One must learn to step out of the world you know and into the world they now live in.  It is a world that is a very fearful place indeed and how you speak to them, touch them, approach them, work with them and convey love and acceptance to them makes all the difference. 

This title page deals with some of the myths that surround a death from Alzheimer's and it will contain caregiver stories of incredible poignancy that occurred when their family members died. The point of this page is this:   If you believe in a soul, you must believe that the soul doesn't get Alzheimer's any more than it gets Cancer.

Caregiver Stories

A Husband's Perspective on Incontinence Care:

A Wife's perspective on Incontinence Care

A Daughter's Perspective on Incontinence Care

Naomi and Ruth

Caregiver Stories

John and Dorothy and the Restaurant

My Grandfather, My Champion

Sometimes, A Bruise Is Just A Bruise!*

Tom and Mom

Tom and the Police