The Handholder's Handbook: A Guide for Caregivers of People with Alzheimer's or Other Dementias

In a national survey, 19 million Americans said they have a family member with Alzheimer's, and 37 million said they knew someone who had it. But when Rosette Teitel found herself in the role of caregiver to her ailing husband, she could find no books that answered her practical needs: How do you give a 170-pound man a shower? How do you pick him up when he falls? What support networks are available? When is it time to consider a nursing home and how do you find one?While many books about Alzheimer's disease focus on the illness and the patient, Teitel draws on her own experience to tackle subjects rarely dealt with in other self-help books. She covers topics such as managing the expenses of long-term care through Medicaid, estate planning, and preparing for the patient's death and the loss of someone whose daily survival has been at the center of one's existence. The chapters contain information on diagnosis, treatment, and the progression of the disease; the physical and emotional changes involved with the day-to-day caregiving; support networks; nursing homes; finances; death of the patient; mourning, and life after the patient's death; and interviews with caring children of parents with Alzheimer's disease. In addition, Teitel provides a helpful list of frequently asked questions, scheduling and memory aids, and websites where readers can find resources.

Author: Rosette Teitel
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
Published: 06/01/2001
Pages: 216
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.64lbs
Size: 8.62h x 5.50w x 0.65d
ISBN: 9780813529400

Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 06/11/2001 pg. 77
Library Journal 08/01/2001 pg. 148
Library Journal 08/03/2001